


Encased in Lies

by newsies_of_corona



Category: Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon)
Genre: Cassandra is Bad at Feelings (Disney: Tangled), Gen, Moon Powers Cassandra (Disney: Tangled), Moon Powers Varian (Disney), Protective Eugene Fitzherbert | Flynn Rider, Team Awesome (Disney: Tangled), Varian Angst (Disney), Villain Varian (Disney)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-06
Updated: 2020-09-06
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:53:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 56,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24041647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/newsies_of_corona/pseuds/newsies_of_corona
Summary: When all of his other efforts fail, Varian must make a decision that goes against everything he ever stood for in an attempt to save Rapunzel and all of Corona, but he soon learns that this isn't even close to his hardest challenge...
Comments: 193
Kudos: 288





	1. A Risk Worth Taking

“And then what?”

It had been at least an hour of walking up the dark spiral staircase in Cassandra’s newly made black rock fortress, listening to her have a conversation with herself. The cold, rough, rocks acting as handcuffs around Varian’s wrists felt heavier with each step, and Cassandra’s hold on his arm was most likely going to bruise. He mentally smacked himself for helping Cassandra build this monstrosity, even if it was against his will. He could still taste the bitter remnants of his very own truth serum Cassandra had used on him to get answers. The irony was even more painful than his head injury, which was a result of not keeping his mouth shut.

“Did she really have to build this thing so high up?” He mumbled in between short breaths.

He tried to get a good look ahead of them, and it looked like they had at least three flights to go. He let out a deep sigh and reluctantly kept on walking. Though Cassandra seemed to be talking to herself, Varian could tell that this one-sided conversation was more than it appeared to be. The chilling presence hovering over his left shoulder confirmed that. Varian figured that since they were going to be trekking up these unending steps for at least another half-hour, he might as well try to make sense of what Cassandra was saying. Luckily, he was really good at taking mental notes. 

When they finally reached the top of the fortress, Varian was worried out of his mind. From the bits and pieces he could hear of Cassandra’s “conversation,” she fully intended to kill Rapunzel, take over Corona, and destroy whoever was in her way.

Varian obviously wasn’t there when Cassandra betrayed Rapunzel, and he was taken aback when he heard the news of Cass being against them. She had always been so for Rapunzel, willing to protect her whatever the cost. For her to abandon her morals and betray the person she spent years protecting, she must have at least a slightly legitimate reason.

Cassandra broke off his cuffs and released his arm, which felt like a thousand weights had been lifted off of him.

“I know that none of this is your fault and I have no intention of hurting you, but I will if you step out of line,” Cassandra told him coldly.

“That’s uh...ver-very reassuring,” Varian stammered under his breath.

Cassandra stopped paying attention to the terrified boy and sat down on a rock to sharpen her sword. Varian took this chance to sit in a corner of the dismal room, obscured by some rocks so that Cassandra couldn’t see what he was up to. He got out the Demanitus scroll to look for the fourth incantation to see if it could help Rapunzel. Varian was studying the scroll when he was suddenly overcome with a wave of tiredness. He tried to stay awake, but his body would not let him. He eventually gave in and curled up in the corner, using his backpack as a pillow.

“Varian…”

“Wha-What? Who said that?”

Varian slowly opened his eyes to examine this miscolored, dreamscape world he found himself in. He seemed to be standing on some kind of floating rock. Abruptly, an enormous tree came drifting towards him with a huge ghost-like head plastered in the middle of it. 

“W-woah where am I? Who are you?” he asked quickly.

“A friend! Or at least I’d like to be,” A ghostly voice replied.

“Right…” Varian said skeptically.

The dream world shifted and the ghost head gained a body of a blue hue. The phantom girl hovered over to Varian and divided right in half, making Varian gasp in horror.

“Now, Varian, I am no stranger to your spectacular intellect, and I know that you are trying to find the last incantation,” 

“Wait, how did you-?”

“Nevermind that, dear. The point is, I can help,” The girl vocalized in an oddly endearing tone.

“I’ve looked everywhere! The incantation isn’t anywhere on the scroll!” Varian yelled in frustration. 

The Demanitus scroll appeared in his hand and grew ten times in size.

“Isn’t it? You just have to know how to look,” 

The ghost girl disturbingly turned her head fully around like an owl, making Varian cringe.

“You have to use the sun, to see the sun.”

The sun and moon symbols came off of the scroll and swirled around Varian’s head.

“Use the sun to see the sun? I don’t understand!” 

The ghost girl grew again and echoed those same haunting words, “Use the sun, to see the sun.” She smiled maniacally as lime green flames sparked up around Varian, and suddenly he was falling to his doom.

He woke up with a start, gasping for breath.

“Oh, ah! That was a dream.”

Varian looked around at the cold, bleak fortress and sighed, ”Oh, why couldn’t this be a dream?”

He resumed looking at the scroll, turning it over and examining every side of it. He put on his goggles and looked at it every way he could, but nothing was making sense.

“Ugh! ‘Use the sun to see the sun’ what does that even mean?!” He shouted in frustration.

He threw the scroll on the ground and his goggles ended up hanging on a stray rock, reflecting the light from the gap in the walls acting as a window. He gasped as he realized he figured out the riddle, but his excitement was lost when he saw a tall dark shadow standing over him.

“Whatcha got there, Varian?” Cassandra inquired from behind him.

“Ca-Cass! Uh no-nothing, heh.” Varian said nervously as he scooted back.

Cassandra reached behind him and snatched the scroll out of his hand.

“Looking for the fourth incantation are we?” Cassandra said mockingly as she waved the scroll in front of his face.

“Wait how did you-?”

“Kid, please. Everyone knows you’re not the best at being stealthy. Plus you talk in your sleep,”

Varian looked down in shame and watched as Cassandra stabbed the Demanitus scroll through the center, and burned it to a crisp with some blue fire. Varian stared in horror as the ash remains of the scroll fell to the ground. Cassandra walked away and continued sharpening her sword.

Varian stared at the ground a little longer and his brain started spiraling into negativity.

_ I failed Rapunzel. I failed all of Corona. I let the one thing I could actually do to help slip through my fingers, and now what do I do? Watch Cassandra kill Rapunzel and conquer Corona for herself? And see Cassandra, someone I used to consider a friend, lose all control? No. I-I can’t. I-I won’t let that happen! There has to be something else I can do! I know what she’s going through better than anyone there has to be something- _

It was at that moment that Varian realized there  _ was _ something he could do. He summoned up all his courage and went over to where Cassandra was sitting.

“Cassandra, you’re angry, I get it! Believe me, I know what it’s like, but you are making a mistake.”

Cassandra turned around and told him coldly, “kid if you start singing I’ll throw you out of this tower myself.” 

“Singing? Where- Nevermind. My point is I know what you’re going through, Cass. Better than anyone. I thought that hatred and anger would solve my problem. I spiraled out of control and I hurt...I hurt a lot of people,” Varian trailed off, looking down as he recalled all of the gruesome things he had done.

Cassandra got up and walked off, not wanting to hear Varian’s speech, but Varian wasn’t beaten so easily. He ran over to her and blocked her path, forcing her to hear the rest of his story.

“And to tell the truth, it felt right at that moment. It felt like I was giving people what they deserved, but over time I realized that I lost myself. I never wanted to hurt anyone, but I gave myself over to my hateful desires. And I had to pay for all of my wrong decisions...in fact I’m still paying for them now,” Varian grabbed his arm and looked off to the side. It was hard for him to look back on his past. Yes, he had been forgiven by Rapunzel and most of the kingdom, but he was still having a hard time forgiving himself.

Cassandra walked away from him, but he ran up to her and grabbed her wrist.

“Cass, just..trust me. Becoming the villain isn’t the answer-”

This got Cassandra’s attention. She whipped around and shouted, 

“Is _ that  _ what you think I am?”

Cassandra started threateningly walking towards him, looking very much like she wanted to cause him pain.

“Listen, Varian. I’m not the villain in this story. I’m going out of my comfort zone and finding myself. I’m  _ choosing  _ to go down my path.”

Cassandra’s angry words had hints of doubt, but that didn’t stop her from showing Varian exactly what she was capable of doing. Cassandra raised her arms, and a black rock pillar began growing out of the floor underneath her. Varian watched in awe as she flipped and jumped, dominating the black rock trail she was making. She made a platform that she walked on, more rocks forming with every step she took. She glared down at Varian, making the hairs on his back stand on end.

“I’m nothing like you. You lost whatever game you were trying to play, but I’m going after my destiny and I’m not letting _ anyone _ stand in my way.”

Cassandra jumped down from her platform right in front of Varian making him stagger back.

“You could have gone out and found your destiny as well, Varian. You have the potential, that’s for sure. But what are you doing now?” 

This was not how Varian wanted this conversation to go down. He was starting to get worried, but he had to persevere. He had to get through to her.

“I-I’m doing good things for my kingdom. I’m actually helping them instead of hurting them for once. I-”

“You’re being used, Varian. I’m surprised you didn’t see that sooner.”

Cassandra moved her hands upward and a black rock cage formed around Varian, making him fall to his knees.

“Now, you’ll stay in that cage until this is done. And when Rapunzel comes for you, don’t even think of escaping. You won’t like what happens.” Cassandra looked him dead in the eye and Varian could tell that there was no changing her mind. He watched as she made a throne for herself out of the rocks, complete with that dreaded blue fire. 

He waited for what felt like hours in that cage, trying to think of something,  _ anything  _ he could do to save Rapunzel’s life. Cassandra’s words started echoing in his head.

_ “You’re being  _ used _ , Varian.” _

_ “You could have found your destiny as well.” _

Suddenly, an idea formed in Varian’s head. It was risky, and it was cruel, but it was his only option.

“That’s it,” he whispered quietly to himself. “Um, Ca-Cassandra?”

“What is it now?” She snapped back.

“You’re right.”

Cassandra’s eyes widened in surprise and she walked over to where Varian was trapped.

“I thought about what you said, and you’re right,” he said again, this time with less uncertainty. Cassandra didn’t look convinced so he went on.

“I’m wasting my potential just doing things for the princess. I should be doing so much more. The things you said were...moving and-and I’d like a shot to find  _ my _ destiny.”

Cassandra started to walk away, so he raised his voice a little higher.

“And another thing. You’re not the villain. I can see that now.”

Cassandra stopped in her tracks. What was Varian up to? She turned back around to face him but kept a skeptical eyebrow arched up.

“Just because you have power and are going after the things you want doesn’t make you a bad person,” Varian said in a pleading tone. “In fact, two years ago, yes I did some bad things but I also felt...powerful. And I’d like to feel that power again.”

He added in a mischievous smile to cover up underlying motives.

Cassandra’s face softened a bit, but she immediately covered it up with her stone facade.

“What are you saying, exactly?”

Varian spoke carefully, making sure to cover up any hint of doubt in his voice.

“I’m saying that whatever you have planned, I want in.”

He let his cocky, villainous persona come to the surface to get Cassandra’s attention. This apparently worked like a charm because she raised her hand and the cage around Varian slowly retreated back into the ground. He got up and let out a sigh of relief, surprised that his plan had worked, until Cassandra pointed her shadow blade right at his head, making him jump.

“And how can I be so sure that this isn’t just a cover-up to save Rapunzel?”

Varian took a deep breath and looked Cassandra dead in the eye.

“Because this time I’m not backing down,” he replied while pushing her sword down. He retrieved a ball of alchemy from his bag, tossed it in the air, and caught it, nearly missing her toes. It may have been a little overdramatic, but he wasn’t lying when he said he wasn’t backing down. He was going to do whatever it took to make her believe him, and hopefully, later on, persuade her to leave Rapunzel and Corona alone.

“Oh really?” Cassandra smirked, and the cage formed around Varian once again.

_ Well great. I’m doomed. This was never going to work. The margin of error was way too high. Ugh, how could I be so stupid! _

“If you’re really telling the truth, then I want you to prove it.”

_ Wait, what? _

“If you truly want to work with me Varian, you should have no problem betraying the person who’s been using you this whole time, right?” Cassandra’s voice was laced with mockery and sarcasm. From behind her rose up a painting of Rapunzel that was left from the princess’ old tower. She snapped her fingers, and it was obliterated with a rock.

_ Wait WHAT??? _

She turned back to Varian and repeated her question.

“Right, Varian?”

_ Ohhh no no no this was  _ not  _ how this was supposed to go down. I can’t go through with this! It would break me, it would break Rapunzel… _

He let out a deep sigh.

_ But what choice do I have? _

“Of course. It would be no problem at all.” He tried to maintain his confident composure, but his voice cracked at the last second, which he covered up with a nervous laugh.

Cassandra’s eyebrow arched in suspicion again. There was an awkward silence where she seemed to be listening to someone, but she resumed telling him her scheme.

“So the plan is I’m still using you as bait, obviously.”

“I’m not so sure I like this plan,” Varian mentioned quickly, under his breath.

“But once you have Rapunzel close to you, you’ll trap her using one of your balls of tricks-”

“Alchemy-” Varian whispered. 

Even in a life-threatening situation, he couldn’t resist the urge to correct someone about his passion. 

Cassandra rolled her eyes, “Alchemy,” she said with a fake smile. 

“And after you trap her I’ll let you out. You’ll tell her you’ve been working with me this whole time. This will make her emotionally weak, putting me in the perfect position to take her out.” 

Cassandra formed her hand into a fist and put it at her side. Varian couldn’t help but notice that she seemed very reluctant to follow through with this plan, but he wasn’t about to question her.

_ Okay, so all I have to do is make sure Rapunzel gets away on time. I’ll just tell her the plan right when she gets here. Easy, heh. _

His thoughts were silenced when Cassandra’s chilling voice made a return.

“Oh and Varian, one more thing,”

Varian gulped as he began to realize this might not be as easy as he thought.

Cassandra bent down to his level again and took on a very sinister tone.

“If I catch you trying to tell Rapunzel anything, I’ll personally make sure that you’ll regret it.”

Varian started breathing heavily, his mind grasping for ways that he could sabotage this plan and ensure Rapunzel’s safety.

“Are we clear?” Cassandra asked in her same mocking tone.

Varian gulped and choked out the words, 

“Crystal, heh.”

Cassandra walked back over to a dark corner of the room, waiting for Rapunzel to arrive. When she was out of earshot he whispered under his breath,

“Oh boy, this just got a whole lot harder.”


	2. A Dark Facade

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for your kind words regarding chapter 1!! You all are so sweet and it makes me so happy that you're enjoying the story. Buckle(y) up folks, this chapter has some angst!

Varian sat in eerie silence in his cage, dreading when Rapunzel would come to the fortress. He had gone over all of the possible outcomes, but plans for sabotage without getting killed were not looking good. He could almost feel Cassandra’s icy glare from her spot behind the rocks. There had to be a way to save Rapunzel. He’d come this far; he couldn’t stop now. He examined his surroundings again until his gaze stopped on his backpack laying at his feet. Just then, he got another perilous idea. 

Varian grabbed his bag and started furiously rummaging through it until he found exactly what he was looking for: the neutralizing particle. With this chemical now in ball form, he would be able to slip one to Rapunzel so that she could break out of his trap. It would take some fast-paced thinking, but he was sure he could make it look like an accident.

_ At least I  _ hope _ I can make it look like an accident… _

He took out two of his trap balls along with two of his neutralizing particle balls: one for Rapunzel and one for Eugene. He made sure to hide them in his apron pocket until the couple arrived. 

While he waited in his enclosure yet again, he couldn’t help but hear another one-sided conversation echoing through the room. This time, however, Cassandra’s voice seemed different. He could hear defensiveness, hesitation, and even some insecurity.

_ Is she putting on an act too? Maybe since we’ll be “working together” I can ask her about- _

Varian’s thoughts were silenced when he heard the foreboding sound of footsteps coming up the steps and muffled whispering voices. Varian squeezed his eyes shut, hoping this was all a terrible dream, but when he opened them again there was the blonde-haired princess and her heroic boyfriend running up to him.

“Varian!”

Rapunzel practically threw herself at his cage and gave him the best hug she could through the bars.

“Are you okay? Did Cassandra hurt you? Where is she?” she asked him hastily.

Varian gave her a tight hug back, forcing back the tears that were threatening to pour down his cheeks.

“I-I’m okay, Rapunzel,” Varian lied. He wanted to tell her more but he didn’t want to risk it. He felt a firm hand on his shoulder and looked up at Eugene.

“Trouble just follows you everywhere doesn’t it, Hairstripe?”

Eugene affectionately ruffled Varian’s hair and Varian tried to force a smile.

Eugene turned back to Rapunzel and gave her a kiss on the forehead.

“I’m going to check the perimeter, Sunshine. I don’t think Cassandra would leave the kid unguarded.”

Eugene took his sword out of its sheath and cautiously walked around the room, scanning for anything that looked like a threat. Rapunzel stayed with Varian and clung onto his hand until he assured her he was okay. Rapunzel breathed a sigh of relief and focused on his rocky prison.

“Okay, Varian. Now let’s find a way to get you out of here. There has to be something-”

Varian hugged her again, catching her off-guard. He took the neutralizing particle balls out of his apron pocket and quickly stuffed them into her hand. He hugged her tighter and whispered into her ear.

“Listen, Rapunzel. Whatever happens next just...just know that I don’t mean any of it.”

Rapunzel pushed back from the hug, trying to process what he just said.

“Varian, what do you-?”

She never got to finish her sentence as the rocks surrounding Varian crumbled to the floor. The sound of it caused Eugene to run over to Rapunzel, stepping in front of her to defend her.

Time seemed to slow down as Varian’s final sense of safety from reliving his villainous past broke down around him. It seemed as a million thoughts were racing through his mind.

_ I don’t want to do this. What if I lose Rapunzel and Eugene’s friendship forever? How can I ever come back from this? How will I face my dad, my village... _ anyone _ after this? I was just getting people to trust me after my breakout and the Saporian takeover, how will anyone trust me ever again? _

He looked back at Rapunzel, an appearance of confusion on her face. She had risked everything for him coming to face Cassandra and she had helped him see the light when he was going through a dark time. Not to mention she  _ still _ saved his dad even when he went through rash and horrible methods to get her to do so before.

_ It’s time that I return the favor, even if it hurts. _

Rapunzel watched in shock as the scared, emotional boy in front of her dissolved to reveal a twisted, villainous image. Varian slowly stood up and a maniacal smirk formed on his face. He took an alchemy ball and threw it at Rapunzel’s feet and hair, trapping her instantly and rendering her power useless. Eugene was frozen in place next to her, not comprehending what he was seeing. Varian trapped him as well and let a guttural, dark laugh out of his throat. Rapunzel couldn’t stop the tears pouring out of her eyes as the flashbacks from Old Corona flew through her mind. Just as she thought things couldn’t get worse, Cassandra stepped out from where she was hiding, the same smirk on her face. Varian joined her, admiring his handiwork, but Rapunzel couldn’t help but notice the urgency in his eyes. That’s when she remembered the antidote balls still hidden in her hand.

“Welcome back, Rapunzel,” Cassandra said as she formed more black rocks, showing off her power.

“ _ That’s kind of my line, but okay…”  _ Varian thought to himself. “ _ Cassandra should at least get some original material.” _

“I’m surprised you came, Raps. Seeing as I’m so much more powerful than you are now.” Cassandra brought up more black rocks in front of Rapunzel, pinning her hair to the wall and making her wince in pain. Eugene pulled his sword out again which made Cassandra laugh. She grabbed his sword and forced black rocks onto the blade making it break.

“That’s not going to do much, Fitzherbert.” Cassandra seized the hilt of his sword and threw it against a wall. She continued on with her criminal spiel.

“Look at how far we’ve come, Rapunzel just for you to be standing in  _ my _ shadow? How does it feel to be completely helpless for once?”

Rapunzel tried to force out a reply between the tears streaming down her face.

“Cassandra...Varian. I know you only want me so  _ please  _ let Eugene go.”

“As annoying as he is, it’s just so much more fun this way,” Cassandra replied letting loose a rock-like-dagger that nearly missed Eugene’s head. Eugene flinched making Varian vocalize another chilling laugh. He wanted to stay on Cassandra’s “good side” so he felt it was important to laugh at her jokes, no matter how twisted they were. 

Eugene glanced at Varian, not wanting to believe what he was seeing. 

“Cassandra, what did you do to the kid?” Eugene asked, cautiously.

“Oh ho ho. Why don’t you ask him yourself?” Cassandra said mockingly. She gestured for Varian to come forward.

_ This is just an act. It isn’t real. Don’t let it become real. _

Varian took on a very mocking tone, one he hadn’t used in a long time.

“Oh, Eugene. Cassandra didn’t  _ do _ anything. I’ve been working with her since the beginning. The ‘kidnapping’ was merely a set up so that we could start on our plans.”

He didn’t know what “plans” he was actually referring to, but everything he just said was a lie anyway. Eugene didn’t say anything in response to this, he only stared at Varian sadly.

“But...why?” This time it was Rapunzel who asked.

Varian walked up to the princess and shook his head.

“Rapunzel. Did you really think I was going to forgive you so easily? I experienced the hardest year of my life because of _ you _ . Bringing my dad back doesn’t make that go away.”

_ Was there a hint of truth in those words?  _

Rapunzel gasped. She looked so hurt. She knew, or at least she hoped she knew, that everything Varian was saying wasn’t true...but was it? Varian went on.

“With Cassandra’s help, I’ve finally realized that I’m done being used by you. I’m finally breaking free of this  _ trap that I’ve been in. _ ” Varian put a little more enunciation on those last words and glanced down at the balls Rapunzel was holding in her hand, hoping that she would get the memo. Rapunzel, unfortunately, was too shaken to remember her way of escape.

Cassandra pushed past Varian, not wanting him to be the center of attention. This was her moment after all.

“Yes. Varian has decided to join me, and he’s proven to be a very useful ally,” Cassandra said, gesturing at the goopy trap on the ground.

“Cass, you don’t have to do this! I’m sorry I made you feel less important but-”

“Sorry?! We are  _ beyond  _ apologies, Rapunzel!”

She paused and took a deep breath, trying not to lose her temper. She grabbed Rapunze’sl chin in her hand and looked straight into her eyes, her voice just above a whisper.

“I’m only sorry that it had to come to this.”

Cassandra took a step back, closed her eyes, and began reciting the all-too-familiar moon incantation. 

“Crescent high above, evolving as you go…”

Black rocks began to grow all around them and Varian sensed that they were running out of time. He gestured furiously to Rapunzel and she finally remembered her way out. She took one of the alchemy balls in her hand and threw it at her feet, dissolving the goo around her. She did the same for Eugene and shook him out of his trance. 

“Raise what lies beneath and let the darkness grow…”

She gave a worried glance back to Varian who mouthed the word “go!” to her. Luckily, the black rocks pinning her hair were already breaking from the incantation. She grasped Eugene’s hand and ran out of the tower as it was collapsing around them. 

“Bend it to my will, consume the sunlight’s glow…”

The floor beneath them began to crack, and Varian ran back into a corner, trying to avoid Cassandra’s blasts. 

“Raise what lies beneath and let the darkness grow!”

The ground underneath Rapunzel and Eugene completely fell through and Varian wasn’t sure if they would make it, but Rapunzel’s hair formed into a protective covering delivering both her and Eugene to safety. 

Varian watched out the window as they ran out of sight, Lance, Angry, and Catalina in tow. He let out a sigh of relief that they had all gotten out safely, but then he remembered that this wasn’t over yet.

Varian slowly turned back to Cassandra who had just finished the incantation. She opened her eyes and saw that Rapunzel and Eugene were nowhere in sight. She practically lunged at Varian, grabbing him by the collar and holding him up. Varian sensed that this could be the end of the line for him, but he needed to defend himself. If he was gone there’s no telling what could happen to Rapunzel.

“I thought we made it clear what would happen if there was any sabotage!” Cassandra shouted at him, every word making Varian’s bones rattle.

“I-I don’t know what happened! The chemical must have been flawed!.” Varian shouted back in fake frustration. When Cass still didn’t budge, Varian continued on with his persuasion.

“Cassandra believe me, I still want to take down the princess as much as you do.”

Just saying those words made him cringe. He hated to do this to Rapunzel and he really hoped that she knew he didn’t mean anything he said earlier.

Cassandra set him down hard on the floor, making his knees buckle from the impact. 

“You would say that, wouldn’t you? Your compound just  _ happens _ to malfunction when I need it the most?!” 

Cassandra was infuriated. How dare he make a fool out of her like that. Inflating her ego saying “she was right, and, she’s not the villain.” She had half a mind to put him out of his deceptive misery, but something stopped her. What if he was telling the truth? He seemed pretty sure of himself when he insulted Rapunzel to her face. Even if he was acting, there were hints of truth to his words. 

Varian was awaiting his fate, but nothing came. Cassandra seemed to be staring off into space  _ again.  _ But then something happened. It could have been a trick of the light but he could almost swear he saw a transparent girl hovering close to Cassandra for half a second. He blinked his eyes and the image was gone, replaced with Cassandra’s glaring face staring back at him.

Against her better judgment, Cassandra decided to give him a second chance, but not without punishment.

She got down to Varian’s level and gave him a fake sweet smile.

“I guess I was a bit harsh before. I understand if your compound doesn’t work, I mean when do your inventions ever work?”

“Well, that’s a low blow…” Varian replied.

“But... just in case you actually did sabotage me, we can’t have that happening again.” Cassandra took on her taunting tone again, and before Varian could realize what was happening, she ripped off his glove and seized left his wrist, burning it with her strange, magical blue fire. 

“Aghhhh!” Varian yelled and winced in pain.

She took her hand off of him and looked down at his glove in her hand, not believing what she just did. Varian stared in horror as he saw the blue scorch marks on his flesh. Cassandra regained her composure and stood back up. 

“Look, I’m sorry Varian. I just have to make sure you’re really on my side,” she said handing his glove back to him.

“Yeah and burning someone alive seems like a perfectly logical way to determine that,” Varian mumbled, still staring down at his wrist. He took his glove back and slipped it on over the burn, grimacing in pain as he did so.

Cassandra opened her mouth to say more, but she could tell that Varian was in no mood to talk. She left him in the main room, not knowing what else to do. 

Varian situated himself in a corner, cradling his injured wrist. He set up his backpack against the wall and laid down, trying to will himself to go to sleep. An hour passed before he finally started to pass out, this time from pure exhaustion. He didn’t sleep for long, however, because he felt something was off with his wrist.

_ Shouldn’t a burn that bad hurt for more than an hour? _

He slipped off his glove to check the area, and sure enough, the scorch marks were practically invisible. All of a sudden, he felt that same presence from before hovering in the room, and he definitely sensed that someone was watching him. He turned around, but no one was there. He knew he saw  _ something  _ earlier. He tried to recall the image in his mind. It was some strange floating girl hovering next to Cassandra, most likely manipulating her. He didn’t know for sure and he only saw it for a second, but he had a gut feeling that this floating girl was much more than she seemed. He got out his notebook and flipped to a list he started making earlier.

  * _Save Rapunzel, whatever the cost_



Under the first point he added:

  * _Find out who’s messing with Cassandra_


  * Bring Cassandra back to the light?



He glanced at his wrist again and somehow there were no signs that he ever had an injury. It had only been a couple hours since the incident and he knew that burns that were that severe usually take months to properly heal. There was something very off about this whole situation.

  * _Find a **scientific explanation** for what happened to my wrist_



Varian suspected that he would never actually be able to accomplish #4, but he  _ really  _ hoped that it didn’t have anything to do with, ugh,  _ magic. _

When Rapunzel and the gang got back to the castle, no one spoke for a long time. Lance sent Angry and Catalina to their room in the castle, much to the girls’ chagrin. The adults valued their help, but they all agreed that they didn’t want the girls getting caught up in all of this. 

After the girls were asleep, Rapunzel, Lance, and Eugene sat around in Rapunzel’s room discussing that day’s events. Rapunzel had just finished explaining everything to Lance since he wasn’t there for the action. Eugene was still shaken up about the whole thing, and he wasn’t being his usual talkative, egotistic self. The lack of his quips and one-liners was very concerning to Rapunzel. He had always been one to make jokes even in the worst situations, so Varian’s betrayal must have been hurting him much deeper.

“So let me get this straight: Cassandra kidnapped Varian but he was actually working with her the entire time?” Lance asked.

“Well...that’s certainly how things appear right now,” Rapunzel replied, trying to stay positive.

“And to think we trusted the little guy…” Lance trailed off.

“So much for Team Awesome,” Eugene spoke up.

Eugene felt absolutely wrecked. He and Varian were just starting to have a close relationship and now...this. He really thought they were getting through to Varian and he was improving so much...but apparently not.

“Guys! This is not how this ends. Yes, I know Varian said a lot of hurtful things, but he gave me the solution to his trap. He actually helped us! This whole thing with him working with Cassandra has to be an act. Varian would never…”

Rapunzel trailed off that thought because it wasn’t entirely true. He  _ had _ actually betrayed them before and caused a lot of damage, but Rapunzel refused to believe that he would do something like that again.

“Well, he did betray us all a year ago and kidnapped your mom, princess. It isn’t like he’s never done anything like this before,” Lance mentioned.

“Lance! Not helping,” Eugene reprimanded. “Blondie, I know you like to see the best in everyone, but Lance...is right. We’ve seen what Varian can do. This isn’t out of character for him in the slightest.”

“Eugene, trust me. I  _ know _ he’s still on our side,” Rapunzel pleaded.

Eugene sighed. He wanted Rapunzel to be right, but there was a good chance that Varian was just too far gone.

“Even if that’s the case Sunshine...you know what has to happen next.”

Rapunzel grimaced. “Do we have to alert the guards? Can’t we wait a little longer until-”

“Rapunzel. I’m Captain of the Guard now. I have to make sure Corona is safe. And we still don’t know if Varian isn’t a real threat.” Eugene cradled her face in his hand and she leaned into it affectionately.

“I understand, Eugene.” Rapunzel felt a tear roll down her cheek and then another. Varian was just trying to protect her. He had helped her and Eugene and he had probably paid for it too. That didn’t deserve being labeled a criminal throughout Corona. Even if no one else believed her, she knew that he was a true hero.

Eugene had become Captain of the Guard a week ago because Cap didn’t want to fight his daughter. It was understandable, but it had definitely given Eugene a lot more responsibility. He had to prioritize “the safety of Corona” over Rapunzel sometimes and he was still having a hard time realizing that. If he were able to, he would’ve kept Varian’s supposed betrayal a secret, but it was his duty as captain to make Corona aware of any and all threats. He really hoped Rapunzel was right about the young alchemist. The kid had become like a brother to Eugene and he really valued their friendship. He just hoped he wouldn’t have to actually fight Varian if the time came. 

**“Wanted: Varian, Traitor.”** Those terrible words were stated in bold on the wanted posters that went up the next day. Staying with his word, Eugene alerted the guards and the king of Varian’s treason, and of course, Frederic wasted no time making this threat known. The posters were hung next to Cassandra’s all over Corona. Anywhere a Coronan citizen was to look, they would see the traitorous teenage boy and the rage-filled, former handmaiden’s faces. By the end of the day, the entire kingdom was buzzing with the news that “the alchemist was at it again.” No one was exactly surprised by this knowledge, but they were terrified, to say the least. With two dangerous criminals on the loose, how long would anyone be safe?

  
  
  
  
  



	3. Precarious Conversations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh wow I wrote 1k more words than usual! I really hope you guys like this chapter because I think it's been my favorite to write!!! Here we go!

Varian woke up to the sound of Cassandra’s sword scraping across the floor. It was not a pleasant sound by all means, and not a particularly nice way to remember that he was probably going to be stuck in this lifeless, magical tower for the long run. He tried to will himself to open his eyes, but his eyelids felt so heavy. Varian was still exhausted emotionally and physically from the day before and he was feeling the brunt of it right now. So much had happened yesterday and he didn’t have the time to process it all, so he was definitely a mess today. He thought about laying in that same spot and drifting back to sleep, but with another scrape of Cassandra’s sword, Varian was awake.

“Ughh alright I’m up just  _ please  _ stop doing that,” he said groggily. 

Cassandra was startled to hear a voice that wasn’t her own. She turned around to find a very sleepy looking alchemist in the corner of the throne room. His hair was all messed up and pointing in every direction, and the bags underneath his eyes were darker than the black rocks surrounding them. In all honesty, she forgot he was there. Cass had come in late last night when Varian was asleep and had been pacing around the throne room for hours, worrying about how she wasn’t able to defeat Rapunzel. When this got tiring, she decided to give the tower a few upgrades. Her first order of business was to fix the cracks in the walls and floors resulting from the fight yesterday. Once that was done, she doctored up the throne room by adding more spikes onto her already elaborate throne, and she added some embellishments to the room itself. She didn’t even realize when the first rays of sunlight started shining through the openings in her tower. 

Cassandra listened to Varian’s request and stopped dragging her sword when she realized the rifts she was making all over the floor. She raised her hand and the fractures were gone.

“Woah.”

Varian slowly stood up and looked at the new parts of the tower that Cassandra had added. There was a chandelier hanging from the ceiling now, and even images made from the black rocks, most of them resembling the moon. She even crafted a stone version of her owl that was sitting on an arm of her throne. He had to hand it to her, she was a pretty good architect...as far as magical rock powers went.

“When-when did you make all this?” He asked in wonder.

“Last night. I didn’t sleep much,” Cassandra replied from the other side of the room. As much as Cass wanted to talk to Varian, she was still on the fence about him after the stunt he pulled yesterday. Though, at the same time, she wasn’t completely sure if he _ had  _ tampered with the trap on purpose. Like she stated before, his inventions had a reputation of not working. Not knowing what else to do to occupy her time, She sliced off the top of one of the rocks closest to her with her shadowblade. She then proceeded to form a slab to sit on and used the cut rock to sharpen the blade of her sword. This was becoming a sort of comfort for her; it was like a reminder that she still had the power to protect her destiny and that she was still in control. With every spark that flew off the blade, it was like another weight was being lifted off her shoulders.

For Varian, however, this was the opposite of comfort. He cringed at the noise.

“When I said no scraping I kind of meant  _ all forms _ of scraping,” the alchemist grumbled under his breath. He took a deep breath and tried to think of something to start a conversation with Cassandra. He had been thinking about it all night before he went to sleep, and he knew that if he played his cards right, he could get her to realize how wrong she was. 

_ Okay, I just need to think of a good cold-open. Something to break the ice before we get into the deeper stuff. _

“So Cass, uh..how long have you been living here?” Varian asked after a while.

Cass let out a sigh and paused in filing her shadowblade.

“Varian, I literally just made this tower yesterday. You were there,” she said with a biting tone.

Varian blushed in embarrassment. 

“Ohh ha. Right. Y-yeah that..that did happen. Just trying to make conversation, heh.” He rubbed the back of his neck and turned around, avoiding her gaze.

_ So much for breaking the ice. Way to go, Varian. _

There was another awkward silence as Cassandra went back to sharpening her sword. Varian couldn’t bear just sitting there listening to the grating noise of rock against rock, which was honestly driving him insane, so he decided to try one more time on “breaking the ice.”

“Hey, Cassandra-”

Cass stopped her work again and cut him off.

“Varian, do you ever  _ stop talking?”  _ She said, exasperated.

The boy froze for a second and Cassandra noticed he looked kind of hurt. She was about to say something, but in true Varian fashion, he shook it off and went on.

“Haha, yeah. So I noticed we’re um, kind of secluded from, well..everything, heh. I was just wondering-”

“If you’re hungry there’s an apple tree out back. I usually make my rounds into town once a week for the other necessities,” she stated nonchalantly without looking at him.

This caught Varian’s attention and he slowly moved closer to her.

“Make your ‘rounds?’ What, you mean like stealing?”

Cassandra considered this for a moment and then gave a curt nod.

“Wow, a regular Flynn Rider,” Varian snickered.

Cassandra sharply looked up so he immediately added, “but obviously much better than Eugene, heh.”

Cassandra put her sword behind her and stood up.

“Ohhh you did  _ not _ just compare me to that dimwit.”

“Aw, come on, Cass. Eugene’s not so bad,” Varian said casually without thinking.

Cassandra gave him a suspicious look.

“I-I mean he’s not bad, because he’s the worst! Just-just so awful…?”

_ Nice recovery… _

“Tell me about it. I can’t stand that guy. He’s self-righteous, egotistic…”

“Loud...” Varian added

The woman scoffed.

“Loud? You’re one to talk kid. You’re snoring is louder than one of your explosions.”

Varian laughed.

“Hey, hey, hey. I wasn’t the one making an unbearable scraping noise at two in the morning.”

A smirk played at the corner of Cassandra’s lips.

“Well okay, you’ve got me there.”

_ Was-was that a non-evil smile I saw? _

“And for your information, my explosions range at about 210 decibels while my snoring usually averages at 80-90 decibels. _ Boom, _ ” Varian added with a cocky air.

“I have no idea what any of that means, but okay if you say so, kid,” Cass laughed.

Cassandra stopped herself, not wanting to be too vulnerable in front of the boy. But she soon realized that for the first time in a long time she was actually having...fun. Maybe having Varian around wouldn’t be so bad after all.

Varian smiled back and then noticed something behind her. He focused in on it and saw a kind of opening in the wall.

“Oh is that a new room?” He asked pointing at the opening.

Cassandra turned around and saw that he was pointing at the space she made for him last night after she finished the throne room.

“Hm? Oh, that? Well, I figured you shouldn’t keep sleeping in the main hall so...I made you a little something.”

_ She made me a room? That’s actually really nice of her, but at the same time...I mean it’s all rocks. How comfortable is that gonna be? _

“Wow, really? I, uh, can I see?”

Cassandra let out a small chuckle.

“Sure, kid. Knock yourself out.”

She gestured for Varian to follow her and started walking towards the room.

“Oh, you did a perfectly good job of doing that yesterday…” Varian said snarkily under his breath.

“Oh ho ho. I heard that!” Cassandra laughed.

Varian laughed along as they entered the room. It wasn’t very big, but Cassandra provided a huge barred window with a beautiful view of Corona. There was a structure in the middle of the room which Varian figured was a bed, and on the left wall, there was a desk-like surface and a chair. There were also some makeshift beakers and vials on the desk. He ran straight over to the lab equipment and held up one of the beakers to examine it.

“Wow. Cassandra, this, heh, it’s- it’s amazing,” He breathed.

When there was no response, he added,

“Oh and-and since they’re made of the rocks they won’t explode! They’ll be virtually indestructible, heh!”

He continued looking around when his gaze fell on a small sculpture that looked just like...Ruddiger?

Before he could examine it further, Varian felt a chilling sensation once again, and instantly knew what it was.

_ I really can’t get just one minute of Cass to myself? Come on, magical force I was really making progress here! Magical force? Ugh, just thinking about that makes me sick. _

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cassandra hadn’t been paying attention to what Varian was saying for the sake of her strange floating visitor coming back to talk to her. Cassandra wasn’t sure if she enjoyed these “visits” or not, but one thing’s for sure is that they always kept her pointed towards her destination.

“Cassandra. Are you really going to let that boy talk to you like that?” The girl asked in a rude tone.

Cassandra turned around to face her.

“What? He was just joking. I don’t think it’s a big deal.”

“That’s how it starts, dear. If you let down your guard like that all the time, he’ll soon overpower you.”

“Overpower me? What do you-?”

“If you start to put too much trust in the boy, he’ll use it against you and might possibly steal what’s rightfully yours,” the girl said matter-of-factly. 

Cassandra wanted to ask more, but the girl was gone as quickly as she came in.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cassandra clutched the moonstone on her chest and whipped around to face Varian.

“What’s your angle, Varian?” She asked with an accusing tone.

Varian was surprised at the woman’s sudden change in demeanor and put down the vial he was holding.

“My angle? What do you-”

“You think I don’t get it? You’re trying to be all friendly with me to get me to let my guard down so that you can steal what’s rightfully mine.”

Cassandra’s outburst caused black rocks to shoot out at Varian but he quickly dodged them.

_ “Where is this coming from?”  _ Varian thought. And then it hit him. It had to be the magical presence. He knew then that his first assumption was correct: Cassandra was indeed being manipulated by this magical floating girl.

“The moonstone? Why would I want-”

“Oh please! ‘I want to find my destiny?’ ‘I felt powerful and I’d like to feel that power again?’ I think we  _ both  _ know what you were after.” Cassandra’s voice was laced with venom, and Varian sensed that he was no longer safe. 

_ Great job, Varian. Why did I pick those specific words? _

Varian started to back up very slowly, hoping Cassandra wouldn’t follow him. Unfortunately, she did.

“Cass I-I promise you that-”

Cassandra’s mocking tone made a very unwelcome return.

“Careful what you promise, Varian. Wouldn’t want to end up like Rapunzel, now would we?”

Varian stared at her, tears welling up in his eyes. She had taken it too far this time...but he couldn’t do anything to stop her or his cover would be blown.

Cassandra stalked towards him until he was backed into a wall, giving him a vicious stare. If looks could kill, Varian would have been dead ten times over. Cassandra cornered him until there were only inches between the woman and the alchemist. Varian looked away and squeezed his eyes shut, hearing the blood-curdling sound of Cassandra taking her sword out of its sheath. He raised his arms in a crossed position above his head, readying himself for the inevitable pain. He waited for a second, and then another, but remarkably, nothing came. Varian opened his eyes to steal a glance at Cassandra, shadowblade at the ready to attack, but she stopped just inches above his right arm.

Cassandra seemed to be in a sort of daze, sword still raised and jaw clenched, but she couldn’t follow through. The sword slipped out of her hands and clattered to the floor. Varian carefully brought down his arms, still staying back against the wall. Cassandra’s eyes were wide and she was looking down at her sword. She quickly broke out of her trance and picked up the shadowblade, placing it back behind her.

Varian let out a relieving sigh but stopped right in the middle when he saw Cassandra look back at him, but this time she looked softer. She backed up to let him have some room, but Varian was still frozen in position. After a few seconds, Cassandra finally delivered his fate.

“I suppose a few days in here without food would be punishment enough,” she declared, in a blank, low tone.

When he found the words, Varian replied,

“Thank-thank,” but before he could finish, Cassandra was out the door, closing the gap in the wall behind her.

“You…”

“What just  _ happened? _ ”

Varian sat down in the rock-like chair Cassandra had made for him, which was surprisingly comfortable for being entirely made out of stone. He actually started to think that it wasn’t physically possible for a rock to feel this soft, but he decided to focus on one problem at a time. He got up from the chair and ransacked his bag again until he came across his notebook. He flipped to an empty page and started writing about everything he just experienced. Sometimes organizing his thoughts on paper helped him to calm down and he needed all the calming that he could get right now. He wrote about Cassandra’s sudden mood change and about who or what the floating girl was. Eventually, his writing led him to think about Rapunzel. He desperately wanted to contact her just to let her know that he was still fighting for her and for Corona. An hour ago he probably could have slipped out of the tower and made the journey to the kingdom, but now that option was out the window since Varian was confined to his room for the next few days in an extremely tall tower.

_ So this is how Rapunzel felt for 18 years of her life. That must have been really rough… _

Varian got up and started pacing until a whooshing noise caught his ear. He turned around and went up to the window, peering through it to try to find whatever had made the noise. He was about ready to give up until he heard a low “hoot” coming from outside. He looked a little further until he saw an owl perching on a tree below him. 

_ “Not just any owl” _ , Varian realized,  _ “Cassandra’s Owl.” _

His face lit up and he got an idea, he leaned through the window as far as he could and tried to get the bird’s attention. It took a lot of arm-waving, whisper-yelling, and whistling but eventually, Owl saw his signals, flew up to the window, and perched on the boy’s arm. Varian beamed at the bird and brought him inside the tower.

“Owl! Boy am I glad to see you,” Varian exclaimed. 

The bird eyed him questioningly but stayed on his arm.

“So Cass has me locked up in here for a good few days, and I was wondering if you could help me with something?” he asked.

Owl cocked his head and jumped off of Varian’s arm. This gesture seemed to say “why should I trust you?” At least Varian thought it did. He hadn’t brushed up on his owl speech lately.

Varian sighed and kneeled down to face the bird.

“I know, I know it seems like I’m the bad guy right now, but I’m just trying to protect Rapunzel.”

Owl cocked his head to the other side and squinted his eyes.

“Unless you’re also on Cass’ side in which case I-I am _ totally _ with you, heh.”

Owl studied Varian for a second and then flew out of the window, disappearing from view.

_ So much for that idea. Well, back to the drawing board I guess. _

Varian started to stand up, but a few seconds later, Owl returned clutching a sort of parchment in his claws.

“Oh! Heh. What’s this?”

The bird dropped the scroll on the ground in front of Varian and the boy slowly unrolled it, slightly scared of what he might find. Unfortunately, he had a right to be because what he saw, wasn’t pretty. When Varian looked at the paper he saw his own face staring back at him, eyes narrowed and jaw clenched. He scanned the rest of the wanted poster until his eyes rested on three haunting words: “Wanted: Varian, Traitor.”

As much Varian wanted to, he couldn’t argue with the statement. In this depiction, he really did look like a traitor to Corona. He wondered if they had repurposed the same posters that they most likely used for him when his dad was trapped in the amber... He cut off that thought before it got any worse, and choked back a sob that was forming in his throat. Varian rolled up the poster and placed it next to him.

“I...I know how things may seem,” Varian stated in a dejected tone. “But I really need your help,”

Owl came closer to the boy and seemed to nod his head in agreement. Varian gave a small smile and started pacing again.

“Okay...now I have to find a way to...reach Rapunzel maybe you could bring one of my alchemy bombs outside her window and throw it to get her attention or-or I could try and um…”

Varian glanced at the scroll next to him again and got an idea.

“Or...maybe I can write her a letter!”

Varian picked up his notebook again and flipped to a blank page.

“Now...what to write.”

Varian sat down at his desk and pondered the question.

“There’s just so much I could talk about! Except I should probably leave out all of the-er…pain, heh. Obviously I have to mention to her that I’m still on her side because she didn’t seem very convinced before based on that wanted poster, heh.”

Varian started furiously writing down ideas and crumpling up way too many sheets until he realized he should probably save his pages. 

He finally finished a letter he was satisfied with and sent it with Owl to give to Rapunzel. As he watched the bird fly away with his precious information, he sincerely hoped that it reached Rapunzel and that she still trusted him enough to even read it.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Quirin sat in Varian’s lab on the bed that used to belong to his son. He clutched the boy’s wanted poster in his fist, trying to come up with a reason why Varian would do something like this. If there was one thing he knew about his son, it was that he would never do anything without a  _ reason.  _ Varian’s father had heard the news of his son’s betrayal in a rather shocking way. He was just minding his own business tending his crops when he saw a paper blowing in the wind. He was appalled to see his own son’s wanted poster when he picked it up. He immediately dropped what he was doing and started walking back to his house. The people of Old Corona stopped their whispering about the matter when he strolled past and only gave the man long lingering stares. Quirin’s peers knew full well that the man wasn’t there the first time Varian had done this, and they weren’t sure how the fugitive’s father might react now. 

Quirin had been lingering in Varian’s room for at least a day, he even slept in the boy’s bed. After looking around at all of his son’s gadgets and experiments for what felt like the hundredth time, he ultimately realized that beating around the bush wasn’t doing him any good. He reluctantly left the dingy lab and went up to his own room. When he arrived at the small space, he immediately went to the painting of his wife, and himself gazing lovingly upon their remarkable son. His gaze shifted to a new painting, done about a week after he was freed from the amber. Rapunzel had insisted on painting a piece of the father and son, and Quirin wasn’t one to argue with the princess so he allowed it. The next day the princess came waltzing into his house with a brand new portrait. It was a beautiful image of Varian, beaming, and looking up at his father, and Quirin smiling at Varian with a firm arm around his son. She even added Varian’s raccoon, Ruddiger who was curled around the boy’s shoulders. This was such a kind gesture from Rapunzel, and Quirin couldn’t help but smile every time he saw it. 

He desperately wanted that picture to become the truth, just to have his son safe from all harm and happy in his father’s embrace. He wished that Varian never got invested in the black rocks at all, but he knew that wishing wouldn’t do him any good. He went over to a stone wall in his room and fished out a chest that was hidden behind some gravel. Quirin slowly opened the old chest and rummaged through it until he found what he was looking for: a map to the Dark Kingdom that he had drawn years ago. He stuffed it in a bag along with all of his former Brotherhood memorabilia and a sword just in case. The man then obtained all of his armor from the chest and proceeded to put it on, feeling instant nostalgia from the Dark Kingdom. Before he left, he grabbed a saddlebag and made a quick stop in the kitchen for some food for the journey. Once he was fully stocked up, Quirin went back down to Varian’s lab to gaze upon it one last time before he departed. He picked up the wanted poster on the floor that was left behind and hesitantly stuffed it in his pocket. It was a possibility that he could need it later on. Quirin sat on his son’s bed a little longer to wait until the sun had set so that he had a better chance of getting out of Old Corona unseen. Suddenly, Quirin heard a rustling underneath him. He looked down to see what it was, only to be hit in the face with an apple core.

“Ruddiger…” Quirin grumbled.

Varian’s father had always found his son’s eccentric pet to be a nuisance, but now looking at the raccoon’s worried face, he could tell that he wasn’t the only one who was concerned about Varian. He hesitantly scooped up the animal and held him in his lap, stroking his fur as Ruddiger gradually closed his eyes.

“It’s been quieter without him around,” Quirin said to the raccoon. The animal looked up at him with a sad glint in his eye.

“Don’t worry. He’ll be okay.” Though he was saying this to the raccoon, he was also reassuring himself. In truth, Quirin wasn’t quite sure if his son would be alright, but he had to trust that Varian could handle himself.

Ruddiger jumped off of the man’s lap and ran into a dark corner to curl up into a human-shaped object. Under further inspection, Quirin realized the raccoon had found an old, dusty, life-sized doll of Varian and he was nuzzling up to it, trying to treat it like the real boy. Quirin watched the animal sadly, and then remembered his mission. As the last rays of the sun went down, Quirin said his farewells to the lab, hoping that his son would be able to occupy it again soon.

With all of his belongings in hand, Quirin went out the door and walked to the stable behind the house. He saddled up his charcoal and black stallion whom he had taken with him from the Dark Kingdom 25 years ago. He thought back to the first time he had taught Varian how to ride. It was more like an accidental occurrence since the man didn’t want his son knowing about the Dark Kingdom whatsoever, and that included their horses. One day, however, Varian happened to be walking by when Quirin was putting his horse, Admiral, in the stable, and as usual, the boy was excited. Varian was about seven years old at the time and had a tendency to be thrilled about everything. The small child went around the back of the horse and tried to jump onto him, startling Quirin in the process. Varian’s father saw that there was no use hiding the animal from the boy anymore, so he taught Varian how to ride. Varian bonded so much with Admiral that he fondly renamed him, Beaker.

Quirin gave a small laugh at the memory and then hooked on the saddlebag to Beaker, who was snorting excitedly when he saw that he was finally getting a chance for a ride. When Quirin was trapped in the amber, the horse wasn’t used much, so this trip was long overdue. Quirin mounted Beaker and trotted out into the open, stealing a glance back at his home before he left.

“I hope it isn’t too late, son.”

  
  
  



	4. Playing with Fire

Rapunzel was sitting at her windowsill, sketching in her notebook. Though she wanted to draw something a bit more light-hearted, all she could come up with was Cassandra’s haunting stronghold looming in the distance. She was so worried about Varian and it had occupied her thoughts ever since he left. As she finished painting the awful black spires jutting out from the top of the fortress, a soft “hoo” caught her attention from outside the window. She looked up from her painting and saw Cassandra’s owl, fluttering outside the glass.

“Owl?” 

Rapunzel opened the latches on her window, and the bird flew inside. She noticed he was holding something in his talons. Under further inspection, it looked like it could be a note of some kind. Owl dropped the note on the ground for Rapunzel to pick up and waited at the windowsill for her to open it. She immediately recognized the handwriting and gasped when she saw who it was from.

“ _ Varian? _ ”

_ Dear Rapunzel, _

_ I just wanted to say I am so incredibly sorry for what I did to you back at Cassandra’s fortress. I want you to know that I didn’t mean a word of what I said. You haven’t used me, you’ve made me a better person and I’m so grateful for that. I hope you still trust me after everything, though I understand if you don’t… _

The princess became saddened at this statement. Of course, she still trusted Varian. He had shown her that he had overcome his hatred and that he was working every day to fix what he had done. She scolded herself for even doubting him for a second.

_ Anyways, Cassandra’s tower isn’t the most ideal place in the world, but I’m doing okay. She made me my own room and everything...which I’m kind of confined to but I don’t want to get into that. One thing I wanted to tell you is that I know there’s still hope for Cass. I was talking with her today and she actually laughed! After that though… there were some setbacks... _

Rapunzel cringed when she read that line. Setbacks? What kind of setbacks? What was Cassandra doing to Varian?

_ But don’t worry, I’m completely fine. But I need you to promise me something Rapunzel: don’t tell anyone my secret. Not even Eugene. It won’t be safe for any of us if my cover is blown. I saw the wanted posters and though I don’t think there’s any way I can bounce back from being a criminal a second time...or is it the third? I think it’s better this way. It makes it more believable if the whole kingdom thinks I betrayed them. Oh and one more thing, can you check on my dad and Rudigger just to see if they’re okay? I don’t want them to worry about me. I know you’ll want to Rapunzel, but please don’t write me back. It’s just too risky. I’m fighting for you and Corona every day. I miss you. _

_ -Varian _

The princess took a moment to process what she just read. She read the letter a second time and then even a third until the words were permanently ingrained in her head.

_ Don’t write me back... _

_ I’m fighting for you and Corona every day... _

_ There’s still hope for Cass… _

That last one stuck out the most. Rapunzel had been trying so hard to come through to Cassandra but it seemed like nothing was working. If there was actually a glimmer of a speck of her former best friend inside all of that solid armor, she wasn’t able to see it. But somehow, Varian had. Rapunzel recognized that she wasn’t able to empathize with Cassandra; she didn’t know what the woman was going through, but Varian could. He had been on the side of villainy and could potentially convince Cassandra that this path wasn’t right for her. This thought was a lot to process. Was she really going to let this teenage boy put on a charade just to keep her safe? It was a noble thought but Rapunzel knew she was strong enough to fight her own battles. Then again, what if there was something Varian wasn’t telling her. Something sinister brewing beneath the surface that even she couldn’t overcome. If that was the case then she knew she had to get him out and fast. Who knows what could happen to him if he was living with an unstable moonstone wielder. There was just so much that could go wrong, and the last thing she wanted is for anyone to get hurt because of her.

Rapunzel’s thoughts were interrupted when she heard a knock on the door. She quickly tucked the note under the cushion on the windowsill right as Eugene walked into her room.

“Hey, Sunshine. How are ya holding up?”

“Fine!” Rapunzel exclaimed far too quickly. She cleared her throat and answered again.

“I mean, as well as I could be I guess. I’m just...really worried about this whole situation,” She told him with a sad smile.

Eugene immediately knew that this facial expression was a call for a hug. He gave her a warm embrace and kissed her on the cheek. After a while, he pulled away and gestured for her to sit down next to him on the window seat.

“I know you’re still in denial from his betrayal, Blondie. All of us are upset about it, but the kid’s...made his choice. There’s nothing you or I can do about it.”

Rapunzel desperately wanted to tell Eugene everything. She hated being the only one that knew that Varian was still loyal to them. She wasn’t sure she could bear her boyfriend along with the rest of the kingdom treating him like a criminal. Varian’s words from the note echoed in her mind

_ Don’t tell anyone my secret...Not even Eugene… _

She had to keep this promise. For Varian. She had let him down once before and she wasn’t about to do it again.

Rapunzel’s sudden silence caught Eugene’s attention so he gently touched her leg to break her out of her thoughts.

“Blondie? You okay?”

_ Don’t tell anyone...Not even Eugene… _

“I...I uh…”

Rapunzel was so shaken up that she dropped her journal on the ground. Her valiant boyfriend swooped in to give it back to her, but not before he noticed a peculiar looking piece of paper sticking out from the cushion.

“Rapunzel?”

The princess looked up at Eugene and tried to fake a smile.

“Hm?”

“What’s this?” Eugene asked pointing at the paper.

_ Not even Eugene. Not even Eugene. Not even Eugene. _

Though she hated lying to Eugene, she knew she had to in order to keep her word.

“Oh, that? That’s just an old...drawing that I was going to get rid of, haha.”

“What kind of drawing? Can I see it?” Eugene asked quizically.

Rapunzel stood up to block the letter.

“Ohh no, no, no. It’s uh, really bad I wouldn’t want you to see that,” she answered quickly with a nervous laugh.

“I can’t believe that anything that was made by  _ my _ girlfriend could be ‘really bad,’” He laughed. Now please, Blondie. Can I see it?”

Eugene looked at her with pleading eyes and Rapunzel knew she couldn’t keep lying to her boyfriend. She had no choice but to step back and let him pry out the paper from under the cushion.

“Wow, you were right, Sunshine. This is some drawing.” He said as he opened it.

“I mean you didn’t even draw anything it’s just words...hang on is this a letter from Varian?” Eugene proclaimed.

Rapunzel quieted him.

“Shhh, yes but you can’t tell anyone. You weren’t even supposed to know about it.” She looked down, avoiding Eugene’s hurt gaze.

“You got a letter from Varian and you didn’t even trust me to know about it? Rapunzel what happened to trust? What happened to ‘no more secrets?’” Eugene asked in a broken tone.

“Eugene, I promise you it isn’t like that. Varian didn’t want others knowing about it because he’s worried that Cassandra will find out.” 

Rapunzel spoke to him sincerely and held his wrist to try to calm him down. Eugene looked down at his wrist, then slowly looked up at Rapunzel.

“Oh, Blondie I am  _ so _ sorry I doubted you. I should have known that you were doing this for a bigger reason in the first place.”

Eugene handed the letter back to Rapunzel who carefully folded it and put it in her bag.

“It’s alright Eugene,” she assured him gently. He pushed a strand of hair back from her face and she smiled back at him, her emerald eyes shining. For a moment, caught in his gaze, everything seemed perfect like nothing could ever go wrong. And then she remembered the letter she tucked away. The words  _ “Promise me you won’t tell anyone” _ inscribed permanently on the scroll. She had already failed Varian again. Her face changed to a more serious expression.

“But now that you know I need you to promise me that you won’t tell anyone about Varian. Please, Eugene.”

Eugene knew this look, and he knew that Rapunzel was close to breaking down. He invited her to sit down on her bed and rest her head on his shoulder.

“My lips are sealed, Blondie.” He gave her a slight smile, which was not returned for the sake of a tear that rolled down Rapunzel’s cheek and wet his coat. For the first time since Cass’s betrayal, Rapunzel leaned into Eugene and let herself have a good long cry. Eugene tenderly stroked her head every once in a while and whispered comforting words to her. She stayed there in his embrace for at least ten minutes until she finally stopped and looked up at her boyfriend. Eugene smiled back at her. Sure, her face was red and puffy from crying, but in his eyes, she was still just as beautiful as ever. She gave Eugene one last hug and whispered, “Thank you,” before she got off of her bed. She wiped her eyes and then saw the state of Eugene’s brand new Captain’s uniform, soaked from her meltdown.

“Oh, Eugene! Your coat I’m so sorry!”

Eugene shrugged. “Eh, it’s alright, Blondie. Think of it this way: now it won’t have to be washed!”

Rapunzel giggled. That’s one of the things she loved about her Eugene: he was always able to make her laugh even in the direst of situations. Sometimes it was a bit uncalled for, but she wouldn’t have it any other way. 

The princess noticed Eugene was trying to unsuccessfully dry off his uniform with a pillow, and she got an idea.

“Oh, I know! I can pull out the Mega Dry! That should dry you off right away! I’ll go get Max-”

Eugene put down the pillow and stopped her before she ran out the door.

“Woahh. Slow down, Blondie. That thing didn’t do me any favors the last time I checked,” he chuckled.

“So your hair was a little...puffy. That doesn’t mean it will do that to your suit!” Rapunzel returned cheerfully.

“Hmm with all due respect, Sunshine, I don’t really want to take that chance. I’ve kinda got a thing going with this whole Captain of the Guard routine and a puffy suit would ruin the flavor.” Eugene gestured grandly at his whole ensemble making Rapunzel laugh again.

“Well alright, if you say so  _ Captain Eugene Fitzherbert _ ,” she responded in a regal mocking voice.

“That’s actually a good thing anyway because I don’t think we have it anymore. It did get destroyed after we helped Varian at the Expo…”

She let that thought trail off and became closed-off again. Eugene immediately noticed her change in demeanor and knew that she wasn’t just going to sit back and let Cassandra do whatever she was going to do to the kid. Eugene approached her again, gently.

“So what do you want to do about Varian?

Rapunzel was about to respond when she was cut off by another man who just happened to be walking by.

“Did someone say something about Varian?” Lance asked as he peeked into the room.

“Ah! Lance. Perfect timing.” Eugene responded with an eye-roll.

After Lance had heard the couple talking, there was no going back. Rapunzel had to face the fact that she wouldn’t be able to keep her word to Varian, but she might still be able to help him. Eugene and Rapunzel were telling Lance about the newest changes to the Varian situation when Angry and Catalina ran in.

“What’s this we heard about V?” Angry asked.

“Blondie, I love you, but you should really keep that door closed,” Eugene whispered to Rapunzel.

The princess sighed. “It’s okay, Eugene. We might as well tell them too.” She smiled at the girls as they sat down, ready for a story.

“But you’re right I really should close the door,” Rapunzel added quickly while getting up.

Eugene stopped her.

“Allow me, milady,” he said with a wink.

“My hero,” Rapunzel said, kissing him on the cheek.

Angry wasn’t slow to make a face.

“Bleh. Can we skip the lovey-dovey stuff and get to the danger?” she asked excitedly.

“And the trauma!” Catalina added.

“Okay, okay I’ll tell you,” Rapunzel said settling them down. “But I can assure you there’s no trauma,” she added with a nervous laugh.

“Aww.”

“Oh come on!” 

The girls voiced in unison.

Eugene walked back to the group and sat down next to his girlfriend.

“No trauma? Sunshine, this is Varian we’re talking about. You know as well as I do that life’s handed him his fair share of problems.”

“I-I know Eugene, I’m just trying to stay on the positive side of things,” she said sadly.

Eugene opened his mouth to comfort her again, but Rapunzel had already perked up.

“Okay, there’s no use sitting around here. We need a plan of action to rescue Varian!”

Rapunzel quickly got the girls and Lance up to speed and they started forming a plan.

“So this is what we’re going to do. Eugene, you and Max can go around the back of the tower to try to see where Varian is, while I distract Cassandra from the front. Lance and the girls, you try to get Varian’s attention once we find out where Cassandra is keeping him. There’s no time to lose, so we’ll have to go first thing in the morning okay?”

“Wait what am I-” Lance started.

“Okay! Go, team!”

Rapunzel put her hand in the middle of the circle, but when no one joined her she just finished the ritual herself, throwing her hand up with a little “hooray!”

Eugene signaled Lance to give the couple some privacy, which Lance humbly acknowledged.

“Well girls, I don’t know about you but if we’re infiltrating a fortress tomorrow we’re going to need some good nutrition. Who’s up for some cookies?”

“Me! Me!” The girls exclaimed.

The sisters practically sprinted out the door, Lance following behind them and giving Eugene a wink. Eugene mouthed “thank you,” back to him, and then turned to Rapunzel.

“Sunshine, don’t you think this plan is a bit...risky?” he asked cautiously.

“Eugene, we can’t just let Varian stay up there. Who knows what Cass will do to him if she finds out about what he’s doing. Plus he must be so scared and alone and-”

“Well what did he say?”

This question caught Rapunzel off-guard.

“What?”

“In the letter. What did he say?” Eugene asked again.

“Well um-”

“Blondie, will you please let me read it?” Eugene asked in an imploring tone.

Before Rapunzel could say anything, Pascal popped out of her purse and handed the note to Eugene.

“Ah! Thanks, Frog.”

Rapunzel gasped and scooped the chameleon into her hand.

“Oh, Pascal! Were you in there sleeping the whole time?”

Pascal nodded his head.

“Oh, I’m so sorry I didn’t wake you up for all of this! I’ll make sure to include an extra special job in Varian’s rescue just for you,” Rapunzel told the chameleon sweetly.

Pascal chirped happily and climbed up on the princess’ shoulder, giving a little salute and puffing out his chest.

“We might want to put a pin in this whole “rescue mission” thing.” Eugene cut in when he finished the note.

“Rapunzel, it seems to me that Varian doesn’t want to be rescued. In fact, the kid states right here that he’s doing a pretty good job with handling Miss Moon Demon-”

Rapunzel shot him a look.

“Er- I mean, Cassandra.”

“But Eugene what if-”

“Rapunzel I know you’re worried about Varian. Believe me, I am too. But he’s shown that he is more than capable of handling himself. If it gets to the point that he’s in real danger, then we’ll give Cassandra the what for, but for now, I think we should trust that he has it under control. He’s sacrificing everything, even his own sanity, just to protect Corona, and staging a rescue could jeopardize his mission.”

Rapunzel was silent for a moment, considering Eugene’s words.

“I-I guess you make a good point. But I just feel so awful letting others think he’s the bad guy.”

“I know. But he’s dealt with that before, and in those cases, he actually  _ was _ the bad guy!”

Rapunzel grimaced and Eugene retracted his last statement.

“Right, not the time for jokes. But my point is, by letting Varian do this we’re showing him that we still trust the little guy and that’s the best thing that he needs right now.”

Rapunzel gave a slight smile and tightly hugged her boyfriend.

Eugene hated seeing Rapunzel upset, but then he remembered something that could potentially cheer her up.

“Hey! One thing we can do right now, though is check up on Quirin as Varian asked. How about taking a visit with the gang to Old Corona tomorrow morning?”

Rapunzel had totally forgotten about this request. She was slightly more comforted knowing that she didn’t have to completely let Varian down.

“I’d like that,” She responded. “And you’re right, Eugene. I know he can handle himself, but I just hope that he’s okay,” Rapunzel added, staring out the window at Cassandra’s fortress.

“He will be. He’s a smart kid when he isn’t blowing things up,” Eugene told her with a laugh.

Rapunzel giggled a little but kept her gaze on the window.

“How about I give you some space?” He said walking towards the door.

Rapunzel turned back to him.

“Thank you, Eugene.”

He was almost out of the doorway when he turned back to his girlfriend.

“I love you, Rapunzel,” He told her with a smile.

She returned his smile as tears started welling up in her eyes.

“I love you too, Eugene.”

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Three days had passed and Varian was still in isolation. He found ways to occupy himself so it wasn’t quite as bad as it seemed, but he was tired of sitting around while Cassandra was planning to wreak havoc. Still he couldn’t help but be grateful for the capacity of the room and how tranquil it was. He had been in actual prison and this was a  _ huge _ step up. At least now there weren’t obnoxious cell mates begging him to join their side. At least now he could be alone to think.

Varian had had plenty of experience being alone. He preferred it while working in his lab, with the exception of Ruddiger, and he had to fend for himself for a long time while his dad was trapped. Being stuck in this room was practically a walk in the park for this self-sufficient alchemist. The only thing was, though, he wasn’t alone. From time to time, he still felt a presence that wasn’t his own enter his room. The more time he spent in the tower, the more he could see her. At one point he was pretty sure he could clearly make her out, but just as soon as he tried to see more, she vanished. Luckily, he still had an almost full notebook that he used to quickly sketch her. It felt very violating to have this ghost just entering his room, watching him. He had put the idea off before, but this time he was going to make sure to ask Cassandra about her.  
Speaking of Cass, she hadn’t come in since their last encounter, and she kept to her word about not feeding Varian. It didn’t matter much, he was used to going for long lengths of time without food. After about a day though, he did start to get hungry and called to Owl when he was flying by to ask for an apple from the tree. This was able to sustain him usually, but he was still losing weight from the lack of protein. 

When Varian wasn’t jotting down notes about the ghost girl or listening to his stomach growl for the tenth time, he was experimenting. Luckily, he never left home without his alchemy equipment, and Cassandra had ever so graciously provided him with indestructible beakers. At first, he just made a couple more alchemy balls and traps, but after a while, Varian got bored. The alchemist didn’t get bored often, especially when it came to science, but when he did he would go to every length to get himself interested in something again. This something today was the amber solution.

“I know it’s dangerous Rud-er, Rockiger?” Varian told his raccoon statue, “but it may be Corona’s only hope. I’ve designed a weapon that when fired can-” 

Varian stopped himself. 

“You know what? I don’t think I should be saying any of this out loud, heh.” 

He quickly lowered his voice and got to work.

The alchemist retrieved his compounds from his bag, an empty flask, and a stirring rod. He started mixing all of the chemicals needed to make the amber as he became lost in thought. As the colors began shifting to resemble the amber solution, he couldn’t help thinking back to that fateful day when his world turned upside down. He was so young and innocent then, just wanting to help out, not knowing the dangers of the black rocks or how the amber could react so harshly. Varian focused on the solution again and nonchalantly poured it into the black rock beaker, only realizing too late that the amber would react.

“Wait what am I doin- oh agh!”

The amber covered the inside of the beaker quickly. The lime green substance sprouted up like a deadly weed and immediately turned a ghastly orange, threatening to envelop Varian’s arm. Just before it touched his glove, Varian launched the solution out the window, where it fell from the tower with a loud bang. Varian sincerely hoped that Cassandra didn’t hear that. He looked out the window to see that the amber had stopped growing. Luckily he had only poured a few drops before he realized his mistake.

“That was close, heh.” Varian sighed. He looked back down at the golden swirls of amber, still visible from the height he was at. 

“Too close.” His tone changed all of a sudden as he was brought back to that night.

_ The snow bit at his cheeks as he ran from the palace. The blizzard was worse coming back than it was on his journey to the castle, but he had to make it home. He had to save his dad. Many times the blizzard threatened to kill him, but he persevered, trudging through the pain of the frostbite. As he finally stumbled back into his lab, he felt a different kind of cold. A darker harsher, cold that could not be satisfied by any kind of warmth. He saw his father, the only family he had left, trapped in his monstrous creation. Quirin’s pain-stricken face looking back at his son, his arm stretched out, like he was reaching, hoping for some kind of revival. A note clenched tightly in his fist that he was desperately trying to save for Varian... _

_ “I never got to read that note,” Varian thought as the images faded away. _

“Who knew that a simple chemical reaction could cause so much pain…” He whispered under his breath. The boy curled up into himself and shuddered, remembering that there was not one, but two “chemical” reactions that occurred that night. The first being the most obvious for the sake of being easy chemistry. The process was simple; the amber compound and the black rocks were the contributing factors or reactants, and the amber rock was the product. The second reaction was a bit harder to see and much more complex than the first. The reactants included an alchemist, a broken promise, and a tragic mistake. And the product was something more twisted and deadly than the amber could ever be. 

A black rock transformed into deadly unforgiving amber through “the power of alchemy,” and a naive boy warped into a demented villain through the tangled web of his own cruel thoughts.

_ “This amber ruined my life...but it could help me save so many other lives,”  _ Varian thought. He kept a blank stare on the floor, struggling to keep his dark thoughts under control until he noticed a faint glimmer of a shadow gliding gracefully along the ground.

Varian rolled his eyes. 

“Really? Even when I’m brooding?”

He snapped out of his funk and stood up, ready to finally get answers for the floating annoyance that had been irking him since he was taken.

He approached the ghost girl, briefly being able to see her flicker into view once again.

“Okay, listen,” Varian snapped, staring her down.

“I’m tired of you coming in here and just watching me. Cassandra said I was going to be confined to  _ solitude. _ Last time I checked that means I’m supposed to be  _ alone. _ ”

Varian realized he was getting awfully upfront with the ghost girl, but he didn’t care. He was frankly sick of her sneaking in the shadows and manipulating Cassandra’s every move. It did cross his mind that he could be putting himself in danger since he hadn’t the slightest idea what the spirit was capable of, but he was already playing with fire, why not spark another flame?

“I know I can’t hear you, except in my dream which was  _ very  _ violating by the way,” he quickly added. 

“But I know you can hear me. I’d like to have a  _ private _ conversation with Cass, and I don’t think your input will be necessary,” 

Varian started to walk away, pleased with himself that he had stood up to the irritating devil, but then he stopped in his tracks.

_ Wait, how am I even going to talk to Cass? These rock walls are practically soundproof and I can’t go anywhere unless Cass makes an opening somewhere. Do I really have to ask for  _ her _ help? _

Varian slowly turned around and rubbed the back of his neck, slightly embarrassed that he went off at the ghost before actually asking his favor.

“Uh, heh. Any chance you could, uh, go get her for me?”

He cringed. This was definitely not his smartest moment.

The girl flickered out of view once again, and Varian was almost certain that he heard a faint unnerving laugh echoing off the walls as she left. The sound sent chills down his spine.

_ I’d probably give that a 7 or 8 out of 10? It’s not the best evil laugh I’ve ever heard but I do have to admit it was...really creepy. _

Before he could criticize the ghost girl any further, Varian heard the rumbling noise of the rock wall cracking open. 

Cassandra walked in with her usual swagger, looking irritated that she’d been interrupted from her scheming, which was really just sitting in her throne and thinking about the last couple of days.

“What do you want Varian?” She asked, exasperated.

“You certainly have a way with greeting people, Cass,” Varian commented under his breath.

Cassandra just gave him a sharp glare. She really wasn’t in the mood for his games today.

“Is this why you called me in here? To provoke me?

“No, not-not really, heh,” he answered, timidly

Varian stayed quiet for a while, not knowing what Cassandra would do to him if he said the wrong thing while she was in this mood. Something told him that it would be a lot worse than the close encounter with her shadowblade a few days before.

“Is that all? Because you’re wasting my time,” Cassandra told him nonchalantly.

Varian desperately wanted to bite back, but he decided to restrain himself for the time being. He tried to form his words carefully, not wanting to aggravate her further.

“Sorry, um. I-I wanted to talk to you about the ghost girl.”

Cassandra immediately started paying attention when she heard those words.

“What about her?” she asked, her tone softening.

“Well for starters, where did she come from?”

This caught Cassandra off-guard. She had no clue what to say because she herself had no idea. All she knew was that this mysterious little spirit had appeared to her in The House of Yesterday’s tomorrows, and had been following her ever since, helping her to find her destiny and control the moonstone. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the girl, lingering with that unnerving smile on her face.

Varian noticed Cass had been zoning out for a long time, so he tried to grab her attention again.

“Cassandra?” 

The woman snapped out of it and looked back at Varian.

“I don’t know.”

Now it was Varian’s turned to be surprised.

_ She doesn’t know? That makes no sense! The Cassandra I remember would never trust someone unless she knew their full story. I mean, she was obviously suspicious of me from the beginning. How is it possible that she let this random spirit basically control her life? _

Varian approached her carefully, knowing he only had one shot to talk some sense into her before she flew off the rails.

Just before he vocalized his thoughts, he saw  _ her  _ for a brief second. Lurking in the corner. Listening to his every word and maybe even thought. 

_ Okay, that’s the last straw. _

“Cassandra do you mind if we had this conversation in private?” He asked, signaling her by slightly tilting his head in the ghost girl’s direction.

The woman looked up at her “friend,” and the ghost girl didn’t need any more hints. She left the same way she came, but still hovered close to the opening of the room.

“Thank you,” he sighed with relief.

“So, like I was saying, with all due respect Cassandra do you really think you should be  _ trusting _ someone who you don’t know anything about?” Varian asked cautiously.

Cassandra’s eyes widened. There was that word again: trust. The word she had used to taunt Rapunzel nearly a year ago at the Dark Kingdom. The moment she had gotten what was rightfully hers.

_ I tried to warn you Rapunzel. You have to be careful who you _ trust.

Should she be listening to her own advice? The evidence was overwhelmingly obvious that she knew nothing about the “ghost girl,” as Varian had called her. And she had no clue what she wanted or why she was helping her at all. Cassandra prepared herself to receive Varian’s advice, and maybe even learn something from the kid. The events of the past months were starting to unveil their true form to Cassandra until she remembered one small problem. If she gave in to this, she would give Rapunzel the satisfaction of being  _ right.  _ The woman quickly blocked off all of her previous thoughts, practically shrouding them in a veil inside of her head. She refused to see the truth if she had to admit that Rapunzel had been right about her.

Varian saw the woman’s eyebrows slowly furrow in anger.

_ Oh no. Please not again. _

Before the boy had time to react, Cassandra formed a blunt rock that pummeled his left shoulder, knocking him to the floor.

“I should have you know,  _ Varian _ ,”

Cassandra knelt down to his level and lifted his neck up harshly by his shirt collar.

“that this ‘ghost girl’ is actually  _ helping  _ me, which is something that I really can’t say for you! All you’ve done since you joined me is criticize and question me, but she supports me more than anyone ever has!”

Her outburst caused more rocks to spike out of the ground, surrounding the boy and the crazed moonstone owner. Cassandra gripped his collar tighter and pulled him closer to her.

“If you want to be on my side,  _ Varian _ , ” she started in a low whispery tone, “start acting like it.”

She dropped his collar and Varian’s head came down with a crash. Before she left, Cassandra looked back for a moment, guiltily looking at what she had done, but ultimately decided that he had brought this upon himself. The black rocks descended back into the ground, and the woman once again made her exit, leaving him trapped in that same room.

She jarringly shut the opening in the wall, making the whole room shake as she walked out.

Varian slowly got up to his knees, wincing in pain. He looked at his shoulder, and luckily there was no blood seeping through his shirt, but it had definitely left a mark. He figured that the force of the rock on his shoulder should have definitely broken the skin, but he was too sore to think about it. That was another thing though. He felt a mellow soreness instead of sharp, searing pain. He decided to ignore it for now, but the evidence was stacking up and he couldn’t deny that something weird was definitely going on. He forced himself to stand up fully and laid down on the, abnormally comfortable, rock bed. It didn’t take long for the exhausted alchemist to fall asleep since he hadn’t gotten a real rest following his kidnapping. He hoped that a quick nap would help him to re-energize and come up with a new plan, but unfortunately that was the worst idea he had come up with all day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope y'all enjoyed this chapter! (which is actually part 1 of a huge chapter that I had to split 😅) I'll have to warn y'all for the next one, sad things are coming for our favorite alchemist...


	5. Dare to Dream?

Cassandra sat on her throne like normal, trying to come up with her next move. She had to do something big to scar Rapunzel for life and to make certain that the Moonstone would always be the most powerful. At least, that’s what the enchanted girl had said. Unlike Varian, Cassandra preferred to refer to the floating spirit as “enchanted” rather than “ghost.” She had had her fill of ghosts at the Dark Kingdom and didn’t like to remember the last time that she was on Rapunzel’s side. Plus the term “ghost” just seemed so derogatory. She liked to think that the enchanted girl really was helping her, but as much as she wanted to forget it, she couldn’t stop thinking about what Varian had said. It was true, the girl hadn’t let her in on her motivations or anything else about her. The only thing the girl had said that was she was “a friend.” Should Cassandra really be taking her at her word?

The woman suddenly found herself thinking about everything the enchanted girl had told her. 

_“Your destiny is to destroy Rapunzel.”_

Well, she knew that one was still true. Rapunzel had been keeping her in the shadows for far too long. It was time to give her “lady in waiting” a shot at the game.

_“The moonstone responds to hatred.”_

That one also seemed to be valid. When she was angry she tended to have more control of her power, but at the same time, she had also been able to control the rocks when she wasn’t filled with rage. One of those times was her first night in the fortress when she was fixing the throne room. She wasn’t exactly angry, but she was nervous. Maybe the moonstone just responds to negative emotions? The more she thought about it, the more she began to ponder other things the girl had said that weren’t the full truth.

As she was thinking, Cassandra’s eyelids grew heavy. Recently, she had started to feel very tired after using her powers, which was also something that the girl failed to mention. Her thoughts brought her back to the very first thing the girl had said to her.

_“I’m a friend. Or at least I’d like to be.”_

Cass wasn’t so sure now that this statement was the truth. Had the enchanted girl really been helping _Cassandra_ all this time, or just _using_ her to serve her own needs. Originally the woman didn’t want to admit this because it gave Rapunzel “the satisfaction of being right.” But technically Rapunzel had no clue about the girl, so where did that reasoning come from? Before Cassandra nodded off to sleep, she decided she was going to keep an eye on this “enchanted girl,” from now on. Maybe she wasn’t the one that Cassandra should be listening to, but it was Varian instead.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Varian slowly blinked his eyes open to find very different surroundings. Desks were littered with alchemical equipment and there were papers pinned all over the walls. He sat up quickly to discover he was in an actual bed, with no black rocks in sight. Varian did a double-take when he realized he was back at his lab in Old Corona.

“But this doesn’t make any sense. How-how did I get back?” He asked out loud.

Varian got up from his bed to find Ruddiger running up to him. The raccoon ran around his feet and perched on the alchemist’s shoulder just like old times.

“Ruddiger?”

Varian warily touched his pet, just to make sure he wasn’t a figment of his imagination. Ruddiger responded to his touch by nuzzling up against his cheek. He sure _felt_ real. Varian couldn’t help himself, so he took the raccoon off of his shoulder and hugged him for a while.

“I’ve missed you, buddy,” he whispered.

The boy finally set the raccoon down and opened the door to the outside. Varian was greeted with a bright summer’s day in Old Corona. Everything looked perfect. Too perfect. Varian tried to remember what seemed different about this place, but he was distracted by a figure running up to him, her long golden hair blowing in the breeze. He would have known her anywhere.

“Princess?” Varian asked cautiously. “But how-?”

“Varian! I’m so glad I caught you! We were just about to go for a ride in your hot air balloon! Would you like to come?” Rapunzel asked him.

Varian had no idea what was going on, but he missed Rapunzel so much. He still wasn’t quite sure how he got back home, but everything seemed to be fine. Maybe he had amnesia from hitting his head or something. And besides, a hot air balloon ride sounded like a lot of fun! What was the worst that could happen?

He began walking with her to the palace but felt compelled to ask some questions.

“I, uh, sure! But Rapunzel what happened? Did we help Cass? Where are all of the black rocks?” 

The blonde looked back at him with a confused face.

“Black rocks? We got rid of those months ago! With your help of course! Your compound saved Corona and my dad rewarded you by making you our Royal Alchemist, remember?” Rapunzel smiled at him brightly and gestured to his outfit.

Royal Alchemist? He looked down at what he was wearing and he definitely looked like he could be royalty. His maroon vest was replaced with a tealish suit, the same color as his hair stripe, with the Corona crest on the front. This whole thing _really_ sounded off...but could it just be the amnesia?

“And as for Cassandra, she’s doing great! She’s meeting us at the balloon!”

Varian was still suspicious, but he had no reason to argue.

As the two of them walked, they ran into Eugene and Max who just happened to be in the same area.

“There’s Corona’s hero! How have you been kid? Wearing that Royal Alchemist title with pride I see,” Eugene told him as he ruffled the boy’s hair.

Varian couldn’t hide his excitement at seeing one of his best friends.

“Eugene! Yeah, I uh-”

“And would you look at that! Now we’re both working in the palace!” Eugene pointed to his own Captain’s uniform that matched Varian’s suit but with a red hue.

“Team awesome strikes again, huh?”

Before Varian had any time to respond, his dad came walking up to him, also with a shining smile on his face.

“Son!” Quirin exclaimed, giving the boy a hug.

“No one can stop talking about what you did for Old Corona! Your harvesting inventions are working like a charm! Everyone is getting their work done twice as fast all thanks to your handiwork!”

Varian looked at Quirin, dumbfounded. 

_Did I really hear my father correctly? I actually did something to_ help _Old Corona? And nothing exploded? No, no, no. This couldn’t be real...could it?_

“Well, I, uh-”

“Varian I am so _proud_ of you!”

Quirin gave the boy another big hug and Varian was sucked in.

“Thanks, Dad,” he answered, feeling a tear roll down his cheek.

Quirin let go of Varian and walked back to his house. As Varian saw him go, he saw a shift, almost like a glitch in the scenery that faded as soon as it appeared.

“What was-”

“Varian! I was worried you weren’t going to make it!”

The “Royal Alchemist” turned around to see Cassandra, no longer decked out in black rock armor. Her hair was back to her natural ebony shade, and the moonstone on her chest had been replaced with the Cassandrium necklace Varian had made her two years ago.

“Cass? Your-your hair…” Varian managed to get out.

“Well I’m glad somebody likes it. I just got it cut this morning. I never really liked it long, but Fitzherbert over here says it looks like I got it chopped off in a fight.” She mentioned, giving Eugene a slight punch on the arm.

“No no, Cass _an_ dra. I said it looks like the overdramatic haircut I gave Blondie when I was on death row! No offense, Rapunzel,” He added quickly.

Rapunzel laughed. “None taken, Eugene. Besides, I like it much better this way,” she mentioned, running her fingers through her golden locks.

_Wait...that can’t be right._

The scene glitched again, this time revealing some of the darkness hidden under its bright simulation. The glitch was gone in a second, but Varian began to realize this perfect world was not what it seemed.

“At least Varian knows how to pull off short hair. Not as well as me of course.”

_There’s the Eugene I remem-_

“Oh what the heck! He pulls it off way better than I do.” the man laughed.

_Eugene actually said I was better than him? Something’s definitely up._

There was another glitch as bits and pieces of the beautiful scenery began to fall away.

Cassandra laughed.

“I’m glad we can always count on you, kid.”

Her statement echoed through his mind as the entire world warped around Varian. Suddenly he found himself back in his lab, black rocks covering the ground. Varian already knew what was going to be in front of him before he looked up.

_Please not again…_

His fears were confirmed as he saw the all too familiar display of his dad covered in the amber. His eyes grew big as saucers and he couldn’t stop the tears that were streaming down his cheeks as he was forced to relive the hardest moment of his life. As he looked around the room, he found not only his father, but Rapunzel, Eugene, and Cassandra all encased the same as his dad was. The statues were surrounding him, so that everywhere he turned he’d be met with one of their terrified faces. Varian felt his knees buckle as he slumped to the floor, sobbing. A dark laugh reverberated through the room and Varian immediately knew who it was.

He looked up to see the ghost girl, staring down at him with a maniacal smile.

“It seems that the bold, outspoken alchemist is at a loss for words,” the girl taunted, hovering over him.

Varian wiped his eyes as the images of his encased loved ones faded away one by one, to reveal the same dreamscape he had experienced a few days ago.

“Why are you doing this to me?” He asked weakly.

“Well you should know that I don’t take kindly to being talked down to, especially by someone no idea who he’s dealing with.” The girl responded, blatantly.

Varian stayed silent, not knowing what would happen if he spoke again. He was in the ghost girl’s realm now.

“Ah. I see you learned your lesson,” she went on. 

The girl hovered close to Varian, forcing him to pay attention.

“Take this a warning, boy. I know what you’re up to, and your reaction to the simulation world confirmed it.”

 _I let everybody down_ this _soon? I should have known I couldn’t have pulled this off._

“Oh yes,” she responded as if she was reading his thoughts. 

“I know all about your little plan to save Rapunzel. And I have to admit, Varian it is a smart one,”

_Yeah sure. Flattery. That’ll help._

“Cassandra would never figure it out, but lucky for her she has an all-knowing demon on her side.”

_Wait demon? That makes so much more sense…_

“I intend for her to stay on my side, but she’s already beginning to doubt me from that little chat you two had earlier, and obviously we can’t have that.”

“What are you going to do to Cassandra?” Varian spoke up.

The ghost girl clicked her tongue.

“That’s between the Moonstone and me,” she responded, “but I know that she’s already beginning to trust _you_ far more than I intended,”

_Intended? Am I part of her plan-_

“Now I’m not going to tell Cassandra of your plot because I need you alive, but I will tell you this-”

The dreamscape shifted into the outskirts of Corona, and Varian could see the shining castle in the distance. The sky grew dark as the girl went on.

“Speak against me again and I’ll make sure that Cassandra destroys your precious Corona and everyone in it once and for all.”

The girl snapped and the castle erupted in blue flames.

“No!” Varian screamed.

The girl shushed him.

“But allow me to offer an alternate scenario.”

The scene shifted again to reveal the sunny bright day in Old Corona with his friends and family by his side.

“If you actually help our cause and convince Cassandra that I’m not a threat, I’ll see that your friends aren’t harmed and you will be given a great reward.”

_Not a chance. I’d never work with them._

“Ask yourself, Varian,”

The girl snapped again and the amber began encasing him and the false versions of his friends surrounding him.

“Woah..agh!” Varian yelled.

“Which dream will become your reality?”

(Art by @justanotherhopelessfanartist!!)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope y'all don't hate me for what I did back there. 😅 Varian will be fine...probably.


	6. In Too Deep

It had only been four days since Quirin left Old Corona in search of the Dark Kingdom, but it felt like an eternity. Every day he was becoming more and more paranoid and concerned for Varian, and he wanted to get to his destination as fast as he possibly could. He’d been waking up at dawn every morning to continue his journey so that there was no time lost. In order to get there as fast as humanly possible, Quirin had only gotten two to three hours of sleep every night which was definitely taking a toll. He began eating more to keep up his strength, but his food supply had just about run out. Unfortunately, the next village was miles away, so he had to persevere and keep going until he could find some kind of food source. He realized this is probably what his son felt like every day. Only eating when he absolutely has to and sleeping for half of the time that he should be. Varian was a smart kid, except when it came to his own health.

“Whoa, boy.”

Quirin stopped his horse as he saw he was approaching the Great Tree, his first stop. Quirin had never really liked this place. It had always made him uneasy because of all of the dark magic surrounding it, and he had had enough of that while being in the Brotherhood. Beaker trotted up to the opening of the tree, and Quirin dismounted his horse, tying him up on one of the massive tree roots surrounding the area. Quirin looked around for a second, taking in the scenery. He didn’t want to be here. In fact, this was the _last_ place he wanted to be. But he knew that he would need a lot of help in order to save his son, even if that help included a selfish, violent, animal lover who he preferred not to come across again.

“Hector!” Quirin called out.

When he got no response, he walked closer to the entrance of the tree and tried again.

“Hector! I know you’re in there! It’s my son! He needs help and I-”

The former knight was cut off when he saw a silhouette of a man on a rhino through the shadows, looking just as menacing as ever. Quirin breathed a sigh of relief which was immediately retracted when he realized he was going to have to talk to _Hector_. It had been nearly 25 years since he had seen the brotherhood member, and they didn’t exactly leave on good terms.

Hector got off of his rhino and ominously walked up to Quirin. At least he thought it looked ominous. It was often hard to tell with Hector.

“Quirin,” He stated blankly.

“Hector,” Quirin replied.

The two glared at each other until Quirin reluctantly let go of his pride to ask for help.

“Hector, I know you and I have had our disagreements, but I am sincerely asking you for assistance in this matter. You see, my son, Varian-”

Hector curled his lip in a snide smile.

“Oh yes, _that_ one. The one who overthrew Corona _twice_ and encased you in a compound of his own design. You must be _so_ proud.” 

Quirin furrowed his brows and stared at the man. He remembered why he disliked him so much. Hector had no regard for sincerity. Almost every word out of his mouth was a sarcastic insult. Quirin cleared his throat and tried his best to reason with the man.

“Actually I am proud of him. He’s shown great courage and heroism after all that he has done. I couldn’t be more proud actually.”

Hector slow-clapped sarcastically.

“That’s great, Quirin. Is this what you came all this way for? To brag to me about your _magnificent_ son?”

Quirin decided it was better to stop being defensive if he wanted Hector’s help. 

“No, it’s about the moonstone. The current wielder is corrupt-”

Hector let out a short laugh.

“Ha! I know _all_ about the wielder. I’ve been sensing disturbances in the moonstone because through all of these years _I’ve_ still been devoted. Unlike some people, I was protecting it with my life like we were all supposed to.”

Quirin knew exactly where this was going. Hector had always blamed him for leaving and starting a family in Old Corona. He claimed it was “betraying the moonstone.” That man had always been so prejudiced and stubborn. Always needing to follow any orders that were given to him.

“Hector, we've been over this. I fell in love. I couldn’t protect the moonstone and my family at the same time.” Quirin told him.

Hector rolled his eyes.

“The brotherhood _was_ your ‘family,’ Quirin, and you betrayed us. You ain’t my brethren anymore.”

With a swish of his cape, the man started to walk away. Quirin, however, was still persistent.

“Can we please put our past differences aside? The new moonstone wielder has my son and I fear for his life.” Quirin pleaded.

Hector turned around and raised his voice at the man.

“I warned Adira about the consequences of bringing strangers to the moonstone. You all have to reap the consequences!”

Quirin was starting to get angry with Hector, but he couldn’t do this without him.

“Hector, please listen to me. Varian...he’s trapped in her tower. Surrounded by the moonstone’s power. You know how dangerous that is.”

Quirin looked at Hector with pleading eyes, and the course man’s face started to soften.

“If you have a shred of compassion left in your heart, please journey with me to the Dark Kingdom. It’s our only chance to save him,” Quirin said earnestly.

Hector suddenly seemed to remember himself, and the moment of softness was gone. He drew his sword, pointing the blade directly at Quirin.

“Why? Why should I help a traitor?” He asked, grimacing.

Quirin put his hands up and slowly backed up from the sword.

“I am no traitor.”  
Quirin stared at the brotherhood symbol on his hand and gave Hector a deadly stare.

“If you claim that you are still loyal to the moonstone,” Quirin started.

He put on his helmet and stuck out his hand towards Hector.

“Then you are loyal to Varian as well.”

The man hesitantly put down his sword and shook Quirin’s hand.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Varian jolted out of his sleep, breathing heavily and frantically looking around the room for any signs of the ghost girl. His eyes were bloodshot and droplets of sweat were falling all around him. That had to have been the _worst_ nightmare he had ever experienced, and he had had some pretty horrible ones. Once he was sure that no one was watching him, his breathing steadied, and he began to calm down.

“Well, it’s official,” he sighed. “I’m never sleeping again, heh.”

Varian cautiously got out of his bed and walked over to the window. The sun was in the middle of the sky, and it seemed to be early afternoon of the next day. His short “nap” had turned into a very long and terrorizing sleep.

“I guess that makes up for all of the other days where I didn’t sleep. Which was all of them, heh.”

The boy gazed out the window a little longer, lingering on Corona’s castle and remembering the ghost girl’s haunting threat.

_How am I going to save everyone and bring Cassandra back to the light? Do I need Rapunzel’s help after all?_

Varian shook his head.

_No. Rapunzel can’t be anywhere near here until Cassandra calms down. Right now Cass is just...too unstable._

Varian broke his gaze from the window and started walking over to his backpack when he felt a sharp, searing pain inside his head. He knew immediately that this was no normal headache. Normal headaches didn’t make your head feel like it was on fire but freezing at the same time. The boy winced and dropped to his knees, holding his head in his hands and waiting for the pain to pass. He had no idea what had brought on this sudden discomfort, but it left as soon as it arrived.

“That was...unexpected,” He vocalized as he stood to his feet.

“Varian? Are you okay?”

The alchemist practically jumped six feet in the air at the sound of Cassandra’s voice. He didn’t hear her come in and after that nightmare, he was trying to be much more on guard.

“Ca-Cassandra! Yes I-I’m fine. Just uh, er, fell out of bed, heh.”

Cassandra looked to the bed on the far left of the room and then back to where Varian was standing right in front of her.

“That must have been a _long_ fall,” she said in disbelief.

“Yea-yeah I uh...rolled.”

_Rolled? Really?_

Cassandra looked at him skeptically but didn’t say anything. The truth was, she had come into Varian’s room because she had grown pretty lonely since she betrayed Rapunzel. And though she didn’t like to admit it, she missed having someone to talk to. She still wanted to be wary of Varian, but she didn’t see the harm in having a conversation with him. Her demeanor softened as she sat down on the side of his bed, waiting for him to say something.

Varian looked at her quizzically. He noticed something different from her crumpled posture. Regret perhaps?

“So, uh, why are you here?” Varian asked.

Cassandra looked up and Varian quickly rephrased.

“I mean not that you _can’t_ be here, it is your tower after all, heh.”

Cassandra looked around the space, searching for an excuse. The last thing she wanted to do was let him in on the fact that she just wanted someone to talk to. Her eyes gazed around the room until they landed on Varian again. Or rather, his clothes. The boy’s clothes looked incredibly worn out, and there was no way that they would protect him when the pair inevitably took over Corona.

“It’s your clothes,” she said finally.

_My clothes? What, is she going to control what I wear too?_

Cassandra noticed his confused face and went on.

“If we’re going to be ready for any kind of battle, you’re going to need some solid armor to protect you. Your current outfit isn’t very durable.”

Varian couldn’t believe what he was hearing and couldn’t hold back his outburst.

“Well yeah! No thanks to you!” he exclaimed.

Cassandra couldn’t argue. She had definitely given Varian a beating, and probably one that he didn’t deserve. Cassandra looked down again, almost in shame.

“Yes...I know.”

Varian wanted to say something to comfort her, but then he remembered that he had no reason to. She was the one who hurt him, and there was no point in justifying her wrong decisions. That would only lead her further down her path of hatred, and that was the last thing that he wanted to do. Varian waited for the moment to pass, and eventually Cassandra stood up again and walked over to him.

Varian slightly flinched and threw up his arms when she walked over, which Cassandra noticed immediately. Was she really that much of a monster that even approaching the boy would terrify him? Though Cassandra was a bit hurt, she still smirked at him.

“You done?” She asked cynically.

“Wha-what?” 

Varian noticed his posture and quickly put his arms down, clearing his throat.

Cassandra rolled her eyes and continued.

“Like I was saying, you need some tougher armor than what you have so you’re ready for the coming attack.”

“Wait, what do you mean attack?”

Cassandra ignored the question and went on.

“I have an idea, but you’re just going to have to trust me,” she told him, cautiously.

Varian’s eyes widened. He was really not liking the sound of this.

“What are you going to-”

Cassandra stopped him.

“It might be better if I just show you.”

In truth, Cassandra had no idea what this could do to Varian, or if it was even going to work at all. It had worked once for her, though, so she decided to take the chance.

Varian was staring at her, wide-eyed, waiting for what she might do next. He had no idea how he didn’t have any marks or scars from her previous attacks, but he had a feeling that whatever she was about to do now was going to be much worse.

“Heh, uh, you-you do realize that I can’t help you if I’m dead, right?” Varian asked, freaking out.

Cass gave a short laugh.

“Varian, it’s not going to kill you.”

“Oh, heh, phew,” the boy sighed.

“But it might hurt.”

“Wait, what-”

Cassandra raised her arm in front of her, and black rocks began jutting out from the ground, close to Varian’s feet. The frightened and confused alchemist was very quick to back up.

“Uhhh…”

Cassandra closed her eyes and lifted her arm a little higher, making the spikes of the rocks climb into the sky and round out bringing Varian with them. They started to cover Varian’s feet, spiraling around them. 

Varian was too shocked to speak, but he was slightly fascinated even though he was likely about to be encased alive. He looked down and watched the rocks coiling around him, making their way to his torso. Cassandra was right, it did hurt...though not in the way that he expected it to. The rocks squeezed his body, making it hard for him to breathe, but he could still get out short, shallow breaths. 

Cassandra watched the process, her hand still in position. A couple of times the thought crossed her mind that this wasn’t a good plan by all means, but she brushed it away. Varian was a tough kid. He had handled the other times that she had lashed out, so he should be able to survive this...she hoped.

As the rocks were corkscrewing up to Varian’s neck, they started to glow a bright blue down by his feet, and the luminescence gradually moved up his body. When the light hit, it felt like electrical sparks, almost burning his former clothes away and replacing them with something much more solid and “durable” in Cassandra’s words. The rocks finished their helicoid, ending just over Varian’s goggles, but the light continued, glowing and burning brighter every second. 

Varian took a deep breath as the rocks consumed him, worried about whether he was going to be able to breathe. His pace quickened with every moment that passed, and he shut his eyes as tight as he could, bracing for whatever was coming next.

Cassandra lowered her arm as the rocks turned a blinding white, breaking away, and almost exploding at Varian’s feet. Varian screamed out of shock as the rocks surrounding his torso, neck, and head did the same. 

He started falling from the height he was at, but Cassandra was quick to make a pillar to catch him. The alchemist landed to his knees, on the pedestal, newly attired in an unusual outfit. It was already peculiar looking at first glance, but the biggest difference he noticed, was the fact that it was made _entirely out of the black rocks._

Varian stood up and brushed himself off, looking at every aspect of his new “armor.” He was wearing a v-neck bodysuit comprised of the black rocks, with the top and bottom separated by a patterned belt. Over the top of this ensemble, he was wearing a very familiar feeling trench coat, but this time it was black with blue accents, with the same pattern as Cassandra’s bodysuit on the collar. His brown gloves with the pressure dials were replaced with fingerless, industrial-looking gloves of different colors, one black, and one blue to mirror Cassandra’s look. Under closer inspection, he could also tell that he was wearing an alchemy belt, which would most likely be filled with compounds by the time Cassandra was done with him. His steel-toed boots had been replaced with shoes attached to the bodysuit that were almost identical to Cassandra’s.

As he glanced up, he realized even his goggles were different. He took them off to find the original lenses had been replaced with a moonstone infused film, and the body of the goggles was now blue and studded with black spikes.

 _“Woah...I look_ awesome! _”_ Varian thought. 

It was true. The new outfit really accented everything he had wanted in a villain outfit when he was with the Saporians, though he didn’t want to admit it. Varian slightly smiled at the new ensemble, but then saddened at the thought of who might have to see him in it. 

_I really hope Rapunzel or anyone else doesn’t have to see me like this…_

What would she say? What would _any_ of them say? He didn’t want to be a traitor, not again. He didn’t want to have to hurt the people he was closest to just to protect them. What if he never got out of this? What if he had to keep up this facade forever? Varian gritted his teeth and tried to put on a fake smile, but he knew from this point that there was no going back.

Cassandra stood back, looking at Varian, shocked that her plan had actually worked. She lowered the pedestal Varian was standing on, making him wobble a bit from the sudden movement.

When he got down, he realized another vital fact about the outfit; it was incredibly _cold._

It might have been worse than when he almost developed frostbite during the night of the storm, and it was ongoing as well. He almost felt like shivering, but somehow he couldn’t. Almost as if the cold sensation wasn’t resonating with his body.

_Well, if Cassandra can deal with being covered in immense cold all the time, I can too. And I’ll probably get used to it eventually...right?_

“You look good, kid,” Cassandra remarked. 

“We’ll start your combat training tomorrow.”

“Wait, _combat?”_

And with that, Cassandra left his room, but Varian noticed that she hadn’t closed the door this time. He was officially out of isolation.

At first, the moonstone encrusted alchemist was relieved to be out, but he soon realized that he was going to have to be extremely careful around Cassandra from now on. If she trusted him more now, he was going to have to pick up his act. His immediate thought was the letters to Rapunzel. He’d have to keep them short and sweet if he was going to get away with sending them now. He would also have to postpone his amber project since that would not bode well with his current situation.

Varian raced over to his backpack and fished out his notepad. His first order of business was to write a letter to Rapunzel. He started writing when he heard Cassandra’s voice again.

“Hey, Varian?”

“Gah!” The sound startled him, and he fumbled around with the notebook, quickly hiding it behind him.

“Ye-yes?” He laughed nervously.

“It’s...nice to have you on my side. Thank you.”

Varian cringed.

_Really laying on the guilt, huh?_

“Uh, uh yeah. Of course, heh.”

Cassandra left his room reluctantly, and Varian quickly scrambled to finish his letter. He told Rapunzel that he was worried that Cassandra was staging an attack on Corona soon and that they needed to prepare in any way that they could. The letter was sloppily done because of the lack of time, but Varian hoped that the princess could still read it. He whistled to Owl, who had become used to their letter delivery routine by now. Varian ripped out the page from his notebook and the bird swooped in to take the letter and flew away.

Varian realized that this was most likely the last letter he would be able to send since the stakes had been raised so high. He still wasn’t sure where the demon girl went, and he really had to watch his back from now on. He tucked what was left of his notebook back into his bag, with the melancholy sense that he would probably never use it again.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The day went on, but Varian didn’t seem to notice. The weight of his situation was finally taking a toll, and he spent the rest of the day staring out the window at Corona, wanting to be anywhere other than where he was. The headaches also continued full force. They would only last for ten-second intervals, but they were very frequent and each one seemed to be more painful than the last. Varian still had no clue where they came from or why he was getting them, but he decided at the moment that he should just suffer through it. The day went on as normal as Varian sat at his window, except for one small exception.

The only difference in this particular day than any of the others was that Cassandra decided to actually feed Varian again. He got a pretty big meal at lunch consisting of some meat and bread, and he didn’t really want to think about where or how Cassandra could have gotten it. 

As the evening rolled around, Cassandra came into Varian’s room again with a plate of food to find him sitting in the same spot. His legs were pulled up to his chest and he was resting his head on his knees. He looked so...alone. He had taken off his coat and put it in the corner, so she could see the sad figure of the boy that hadn’t eaten for days because of her treatment. The regret she felt began to force its way back in, and she went over to the window to talk to him. 

“Feeling homesick?” Cassandra asked.

Her voice startled Varian out of his trance.

“Huh-what?” he asked, jumping.

Varian saw Cassandra and immediately lowered his tone, trying to cover his increasingly obvious homesickness.

“Oh-oh, uh, no! Definitely not, heh. It’s just such-such a nice view…” he trailed off sadly.

Cassandra sat down next to him, putting the plate down. She almost seemed to look sympathetic.

“It’s okay, kid. I understand how that feels.”

Varian was slightly shocked at this.

_Is-is she actually opening up to me?_

Cassandra stared out the window at the beautiful Corona castle that she once called home. The sun was just about to set and it made the landscape almost glow. It was a nice change compared to looking at solid black rocks all the time. She sighed and turned back to the boy.

“When I first decided that I wasn’t coming back to Corona, I’ll admit, I did get homesick. It’s a normal thing to go through. It wasn’t that I missed the people much, but I did miss the atmosphere and the feeling of...home. Whenever I started to feel that way, though, I was reminded that this is the path I chose. This path is helping me to find my destiny and the kingdom of Corona was just standing in my way. I’m sure you had that same feeling especially during the Battle of Old Corona.”

Varian winced at the memory, and he especially cringed at the fact that she was right. At that moment in his life he really did just see Corona as an obstacle to destroy, and he was still ashamed. It was hard, not being able to convey the hurt that he felt in a genuine way. Cassandra wasn’t quite at the point of redemption yet, but when the time came, he would be there and ready to help her. For now, all he could do was agree, and maybe gently guide her to the light.

“Y-yeah. Exactly like that, heh,”

“Varian, I know it’s going to be hard for you living up here with me, but this is where your destiny has led. You’re here for a reason and if your old friends don’t recognize or respect what you do then they can take a hike!” 

Varian winced at the word “old.” They were still his friends. He still cared for them, and deep down he knew Cassandra did too. He just needed to find a weakness in her armor, some kind of vulnerability to make her see that she was in the wrong, and he had a feeling that right now was the perfect time.

He forcibly laughed at Cassandra’s joke, until her tone changed again.

“You still miss them, don’t you?” she asked him.

“What? No, no way, heh. Like you said they don’t appreciate me…”

_It’s not real. It’s not real. They love you and appreciate you, you just have to pretend right now…_

“Varian, you aren’t the best liar,” Cassandra told him.

When she got no response, she went on.

“I didn’t want to say anything before but, sometimes I miss them too. It’s honestly just the little things. Bickering with Eugene, Lance’s baking, Pete and Stan’s incessant arguments that were actually pretty funny. Rapunzel’s-”

_She still misses Rapunzel._

Cassandra cleared her throat and started to get up.

“Anyway, they didn’t appreciate us so good riddance…”

_This is my chance._

“Cassandra?” 

The minute her name left his mouth Varian regretted it. What was he supposed to say now? If he vouched for Rapunzel he’d most likely get hurt, but he couldn’t let her keep spiraling down her misguided path.

Cassandra gave him a look that seemed to say “go on.”

Varian gulped.

“It’s true. I-I do miss them. And maybe we both felt...under-appreciated at times but maybe we don’t have to go so far as attacking them. Maybe the fact that you still miss...an aspect of Rapunzel means that you don’t have to hurt her. You can find your destiny and not resort to violence-”

Cassandra held out a hand to stop him.

“Look, Varian, I know you’re trying to help, but you’re new to this game. Destiny comes with a price and that’s all there is to it,” Cass stated coldly.

“I know you’re scared but this is the best path for both of us. You’ll get over it eventually.”

She walked out the door but not before turning back to him to say a very reassuring,

“Combat training starts tomorrow. You can do it.”

Varian sighed in defeat.

“I was so close…” he said under his breath.

Varian got up from the window to go to his bed, the cold of the armor still chilling him. As if things couldn’t get any worse, another round of headaches started, always more piercing and painful than the ones before. He still wasn’t sure where they were coming from. After thinking about it for a long time, he decided it must be from homesickness, even though that didn’t make any sense scientifically. As he laid on his bed, the cold and the pain would not go away, and they only seemed to be getting stronger. Varian realized that he was probably not going to sleep at all tonight.

 _“Which has its advantages,”_ he thought.

_“For one I won’t have any terrorizing nightmares…”_

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rapunzel was pacing back and forth in her room while Eugene watched her, trying to calm her down. They had just come back from Old Corona, planning to check on Quirin, but they found the house completely deserted. It looked like he had left in a hurry, but they had no clue where or why. Luckily they had found Ruddiger and brought him back to the castle with them. The raccoon was so frantic and sad without his owner and almost refused to leave the stuffed dummy he was curled up into. Eventually they lured him out of the lab with some apples, and he was now sleeping peacefully in a corner of Rapunzel’s room.

The princess felt awful about Varian’s father, but Eugene reminded her that it wasn’t her fault that Quirin had left. Rapunzel was still pacing when Owl flew into her window with another note from Varian.

“Owl!”

Rapunzel hastily opened the scroll, hoping for some good news. What she found however, only made matters worse.

_Rapunzel,_

_Cass is planning an attack on Corona. Stay safe and prepare._

_-Varian_

The letter was very short, to the point, and sloppily done. All of these things were uncommon for Varian. He usually went into long and lengthy explanations, no matter what the topic was. This only furthered Rapunzel’s worry.

The princess stopped pacing and collapsed into Eugene, who was ready to catch her.

“Sunshine, what’s wrong?”

Rapunzel felt tears well up in her eyes. She handed Eugene the letter, knowing that she would completely break down if she spoke.

Eugene scanned it and embraced his girlfriend.

“I just...I’m so scared for him Eugene. This is all my fault and he shouldn’t be the one trying to protect me. What if Cassandra hurts him or...or worse?”

Rapunzel was resting on Eugene’s shoulder and the man was tenderly cradling her head. He had to admit, he was scared for Varian too. Cassandra was extremely unstable and Varian had already been in her clutches for almost a week. There’s no telling what she could have done.

“I know, Blondie. I’m scared for him too.” Eugene agreed, sadly.

“Eugene I know he said that we need to stay away but this isn’t right. He shouldn’t have to save Corona all on his own,” Rapunzel expressed, her voice breaking.

The princess stood up, wiped her tears, and put on a determined face.

“That’s it. I’ve waited too long. I’m going to that tower to rescue him. I don’t care what Cassandra might do to me but we’re getting Varian out.”

Eugene walked over to her cautiously.

“Rapunzel, I know that you want to save him, but he’s desperate to keep you away from Cass. I don’t want to lose you.”

Rapunzel sighed.

“I can handle Cass. She is- _was_ my friend.”

Eugene did her best to try and reason with her. Rapunzel was incredibly headstrong, and when she got an idea it was hard to keep her from going through with it.

“Sunshine, I can’t let you take that chance. Especially not now that Cassandra has complete control of the moonstone.”

Rapunzel considered this. She knew that it would be risky, but Varian was only a kid. He shouldn’t have to shoulder the burden of saving an entire kingdom by himself, especially at such a young age.

She frowned, knowing that Eugene was right. She had saw what Cassandra was capable of the last time they were in her tower. Cassandra’s eyes were alight with rage and revenge. She was fully ready to kill everyone in that room.

“But, Varian didn’t say anything about me not being able to go,” Eugene added after a while.

Rapunzel turned to her boyfriend, surprised. She had already threatened his life multiple times, she didn’t want to do it again.

“Eugene are you sure? What if Cass-”

“If Varian can handle her for this long, then I can too. It might be good for the kid to see a well-chiseled, handsome, and welcoming face after staring at Cass _an_ dra’s witch-like face for days.

Rapunzel shot him a disapproving look.

“Sorry. My point is, you’re right Rapunzel. Varian shouldn’t be fighting for us all on his own. I’ll go to Cass’ fortress tomorrow and pay the little guy a visit.”

Rapunzel smiled, hugged Eugene tightly, and whispered,

“Please stay safe.”

Eugene shifted and looked off in the distance, not meeting her eyes.

“I will, Sunshine.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I felt the need to draw Varian's moonstone outfit and I'm so happy with how it turned out!!! (don't judge me for the hands though. I know they're terrible 😅) I'm so sorry about skipping a week for updates, but I hope this chapter was worth the wait! Love y'all!


	7. "Friendly" Riposte

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Riposte: a quick, clever reply to an insult or criticism & a move in fencing where a person thrusts their sword at their opponent.
> 
> (I thought it would be useful to have the definition since I didn't originally know what it was either. Thank you, J for the title idea!)
> 
> Without further adieu, let's get into the angsty adventures of Cassandra and Varian...

The early morning sun shone down on Cassandra’s fortress. Everything was quiet for once, as the shadows gradually lifted off of the trees to make way for the beautiful glow of dawn. The birds began chirping softly and flying from tree to tree. Even Varian was sleeping peacefully after a restless night of chills and headaches. It had taken him five hours of thrashing to finally let himself fall asleep, luckily without any nightmares. He was laying against his bed on his back, breathing steadily. For the first time in a while, he actually looked calm and free of stress.

“ _ Varian! _ ” Cassandra called out, her voice ringing through the halls.

Varian woke up with a jolt as reality came crashing down on him. 

“Gah! I’m really not allowed to sleep around here, am I?” The boy said, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. 

Cassandra barged into his room carrying a newly crafted shadowblade.

“Morning, kid.”  
Cassandra threw the sword to Varian who fumbled around with it before barely catching it by the tip of its blade.

“Are you crazy?” Varian accused Cassandra.

Cass only smirked which caused him to remember their conversation from the day before.

_ Oh, that’s right...combat training. _

Cass pulled her own sword out of its sheath and inspected it.

“You have to get yourself accustomed to a sword, Varian. You never know when you might have to use it.”

Varian moved his hand to the hilt of the shadowblade, and stared down at it, wishing and praying that he wouldn’t ever have to wield it. With the exception of today.

“Is there any chance that I could maybe...just use my alchemical weapons instead of a sword?”

Cass laughed.

“Varian, your little tricks and potions might be good for a while,”

“ _ Alchemy _ ,” he added under his breath.

“But you’re going to need to know how to defend yourself properly when faced with a real threat. Like Rapunzel, for example,” Cass went on.

Varian gulped and almost dropped the shadowblade again. Cass shook her head and sighed.

“Lesson one: how to sheath your sword. Since your armor is made of the rocks, it should attract the sword and cover it behind you.”

Cassandra demonstrated with her own sword, attaching it to her back and letting the black rocks envelop it. She gestured for Varian to try. 

The moonstone encrusted alchemist gripped his sword in his hand and lifted it over his head. The sword rested against his back and the rocks encased it, making the hairs on the back Varian’s neck stand up straight from the cold. He shivered slightly but gave Cassandra an unsteady smile.

“Not bad. I know it might be heavy but you’ll get used to the weight in time.”

Cassandra suddenly made the floor of the room lower so that they were transported to the base of the tower. 

“Woah-gah!”

Varian stumbled back and fell on the ground as the platform lowered.

“Gah! Do you think you could, you know,  _ warn _ me the next time you do that?”

Cass ignored him and casually walked off of the platform.

“Come on. We’re starting your training outside.”  
Varian crossed his arms and followed her off of the stand until a thought dawned on him.

“Wait, hang on. You made me walk for  _ two hours  _ up a spiral staircase when you could have manipulated the rocks the entire time? What was the point of that?” The boy asked, irritated.

Cass shrugged.

“I had some time to kill. Plus, some exercise wouldn’t hurt. Now, stop procrastinating. We only have so much time in the day and I’m already planning for you to learn a week’s worth of training.”

Varian sighed deeply.

“Fine. So what’s the first- woah!”

Cassandra lunged at Varian with her blade, causing him to retrieve his sword in defense and block her.

“Being prepared for any attack. You have some razor-sharp reflexes, kid.”

Varian still held his sword out, but he was shaking like crazy.

“Uh, thank-thanks…”

Honestly, Varian had no idea what caused him to pull out his sword like that. It was almost as if the armor reacted _ for _ him. He usually just froze in place when in the face of danger, but he figured that he should learn how to fight back if he ever had another encounter like the one with Cassandra. Varian put his sword back in its sheath and readied himself for Cassandra’s next instructions.

His instructor only shook her head. 

“That was a mistake.”

She “flunged” at Varian, this time leaping at him with the sword. Varian stepped back, rolling his eyes as he hastily retrieved the sword again.

“Gah! Again?”

Varian blocked her blade, but unlike last time, she kept swinging the sword at him in a remise.

“Couldn’t you just, I don’t know, teach me the moves first so I don’t get stabbed?”

Cassandra swung her sword in a circle, barely missing Varian’s head as he ducked.

“You’re doing fine. Plus this is the best way to learn.”

Cassandra’s sword came back up to Varian’s chest as she completed the circle, the alchemist desperately trying to block her.  
“Uh, last time I checked, _dying_ is actually a pretty terrible way to learn anything,” Varian retorted.

Cassandra dropped underneath Varian’s shadowblade, steadying herself on the ground as she pointed her sword at his stomach.

“Well, what do you know anyway?” She asked, cynically.

Varian jumped back and tried to counter her attack.  
“Heh! A _lot_ of things. But remarkably, I know nothing about this. Which is literally why you’re teaching me!” He exclaimed.

Cassandra parried his charge and went on with her remise.

“I never said I was going to _ teach _ you. I said I was going to _ train _ you. There’s a big difference,” Cass responded, deadpan.

Cassandra used a feint to try and fake Varian out, as her shadowblade nearly skimmed his nose.

“I didn’t know the difference would be  _ death _ !”

Varian staggered back significantly, but Cassandra lunged at him again.

“Oh stop being so dramatic,” she told him sarcastically.

Varian blocked her again, the swords clashing and straining against each other.  
“Uh, maybe I will if you put the sword down-agh!”

Cassandra hit Varian’s arm with the shadowblade, cutting his armor slightly. Varian held his arm in pain, but when he examined the cut, it looked..blue? Before he could look further, the armor regenerated, covering the wound. Cassandra looked at Varian regretfully, before furrowing her eyebrows again and brandishing her sword and showing off.

“No can do. You’ll have to swing it out of my hands _ yourself _ if that’s going to happen.”

Cassandra took another lunge at Varian, hitting his sword forcing him to scoot back since he didn’t have a grip on the ground.

“I-I have no clue what I’m doing! How could I possibly-”

Suddenly, Varian forced himself forward and hit the hilt of Cassandra’s sword, launching it up into the air and repelling it out of her reach.

Cassandra looked at the boy, slightly surprised.

“Nicely done,” she told him, retrieving the sword. 

Varian looked down at the shadowblade in his hand, very, very confused.

“I-I don’t-”

“You’re clearly a better fighter than you thought,” Cass said, casually.

“Well uh, thank-thanks...heh,” He replied, nervously.

Cass nudged him.

“You might make a pretty good partner in crime after all.”

Varian laughed.

“Ha! You sure you wanna put a label on it?” He asked sarcastically.

Cassandra’s laugh was cut off when she remembered the last instance he had said that phrase.

It was right before the science expo. Varian was helping her with chores so she could pull guard duty. They were having innocent fun, just hanging out as friends. The even bonded over their fathers. So much had changed since then. Varian’s betrayal, her own betrayal. Everything was so much more complicated than wanting a silly job as a guard or winning a science competition.

_ “And Varian? About putting my own ambition in front of our friendship? I’m sorry.” _

Wasn’t that what she was doing now?

Cass didn’t notice that she had zoned out until Varian snapped in her face to get her attention.

“Cass? You there?”

“Oh...yeah,” Cass replied, distantly.

“O...kay? Heh, uh, back to the sword-fighting,are-are you sure you didn’t...go easy on me?” Varian asked, hesitantly.

Cass regained her composure and laughed as if that was the funniest thing she had ever heard.

“Go easy? Varian, I would rather stab myself in the gut than ‘go easy’ on anyone.”

Varian backed up slightly, remembering the sword she still held.  
“That’s uh, graphic, heh!” he replied, nervously.

Cass pat him on the back.

“Kid, you should really get used to ‘graphic.’ We’ll have to do whatever it takes to secure what’s rightfully ours.”

Varian put his sword back into its sheath, hoping Cassandra wouldn’t strike again.

_ Look like it’s time for another therapy session. _

The alchemist sighed and walked over to Cassandra.

“Cass, I-I don’t think violence is the answer. It feels good, sure, when you start out, but the regret isn’t worth it. There are other ways to find what you’re looking for.”

Cass sighed, exasperated.

“Varian, not this again. I told you, destiny comes with a price, and you need to be willing to pay it-”

Varian cut her off.  
“I-I know what you said, but is that _really_ the type of person you want to be?”

Cassandra grew quiet for a second, then lowered her tone.

“I want to be the kind of person who takes what’s theirs for once instead of constantly  _ waiting _ for my time to shine.”

“But-but Cass, you  _ did _ . You-you took the moonstone, isn’t that enough?”

Cassandra glared at him, as he remembered a vital part of his past.

_ “It’s not enough. Until you endure the same amount of pain, and agony I have!” _

The flashback flooded Varian’s cognizance. Cassandra was in the same mindset that he once was. It didn’t matter that she had already taken what was “rightfully hers.” She wanted to make sure that Rapunzel suffered for all that the princess had put her through. The only way for Varian to get through to Cass now...was defeat. 

As the memory continued, the searing headaches came back. Varian didn’t hear Cassandra’s response as he kneeled down in pain. He breathed heavily and waited for the hurt to pass. 

Cass knelt down to the alchemist’s level and put a hand on his shoulder.

“Varian! Varian are you okay?” She asked frantically.

The pain finally dissolved and the boy reluctantly stood up.

“Y-yeah. I-I’m fine. It’s nothing. I, uh, I think I just need a-a break…”

Cass stood up and crossed her arms.

“Okay. Just make it a short one. We aren’t done yet.”

Varian nodded, then ran to the back of the tower and sat down, putting his head in his hands.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cassandra watched him leave, feeling worried about him. Ever since she hurt him the first time, she had felt extremely guilty. No sooner had this thought run through her mind that Cass felt a familiar unsettling presence.

“Cassandra, I can’t help but notice that your newest accomplice is making you  _ soft. _ ”

Cass turned around to see the enchanted girl, hovering close behind her. She hadn’t seen the girl in a while. It had been pretty nice to not have her breathing down her neck at all times.

“Soft? No. Varian is...Varian is working for me. He’ll do what I tell him.” Cass told her, defensively.

“He’s causing you to question your destiny,” the girl told her, matter-of-factly.

Cass turned away, clutching the moonstone.

“I know what I need to do. He isn’t making me question anything.”

The girl floated around to face her, practically demanding Cassandra to listen to her.

“Are you sure about that? As I recall, he doesn’t want you to harm anyone, even though that is the only possible way you can achieve your goals. Doesn’t that seem a little...suspicious?” The ghost asked, fanning the flame.

“He’s a kid. He’s probably scared. He’ll get over it eventually,” Cassandra replied nonchalantly.

“Is that so? Keeping in mind, this is the same child who almost brought Corona to its knees. Do you honestly believe he’s afraid of getting his hands dirty?” 

The enchanted girl gestured to Corona’s castle in the distance, smiling maniacally. Cassandra turned to look as well, her brow furrowing.

“Well, now that you mention it…” Cassandra trailed off.

The enchanted girl floated over to her shoulder, practically whispering in her ear.

“He’s weakening you, Cassandra. You don’t want to sit back and  _ wait _ for what comes next, do you?”

Cassandra glared at Corona in the distance, rocks spiking up near her feet.

“No. That’s the last thing I want to do,” Cassandra growled. 

“So I’m assuming that you will want to stage your attack...sooner?”

Another rock spiked up, severing a tree and breaking it in half. Cassandra smirked evilly and focused back on the castle.

“Tomorrow...we’re going to pay Rapunzel a little  _ visit. _ ”

Cassandra returned to her fortress, shutting the door behind her. She had forgotten about the rest of Varian’s combat training, and about the boy altogether. She had bigger priorities now; planning for Rapunzel’s demise.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Varian still sat in the same spot, his headaches coming and going. He heard the fortress door close behind him.

_ Huh. I guess I’m stuck out here. _

Varian looked up to hear a rustling in the bushes. The alchemist stood to his feet and retrieved his sword, prepping himself for an attack. Suddenly, he heard a muffled voice...that sounded way too familiar.

“I’m telling ya, Max. It’s right through here. I know where I’m going!”

_ Eugene? What-what is he doing here? _

As the captain neared Varian was sitting, he retrieved his coat, and put it on, knowing what he had to do.

Eugene cut through the bushes and brambles until he could see Cass’ fortress clearly. He had gone around the back this time, in fear of being spotted. Eugene had come to talk to Varian and didn’t need to have a run-in with the Ice Queen herself. Max whinnied to get Eugene’s attention. The captain looked where Max was pointing to find Varian, shadowblade in hand, fully clothed in the moonstone armor. 

Varian walked up to the man and the horse, putting on the best smirk he could through the lingering pain of his head.

“ _ Well _ , if it isn’t Captain Eugene Fitz-”

Eugene cut him off.

“Drop the act, Varian. Rapunzel told me about your plan,” he told him, deadpan.

Varian was taken aback but tried to maintain his composure.

“Pla-plan? The only _plan_ is preparing for Corona’s downfall-”  
“Kid, please stop. You’re embarrassing yourself.” Eugene interrupted again, slightly cringing.

Varian sighed and put his sword down.

“Ye-yeah I, uh, hate doing that, heh,” Varian mentioned, sadly. “So, she told you? I, uh, I’m not surprised, heh.”

Eugene tried his best to lighten the mood.

“It was actually more of an ‘I saw your letter and decided to snoop’ kind of thing.”

Varian laughed slightly, remembering how much he missed Eugene’s jokes.

“Do-does anyone else know?” The boy asked.

“No one else except me. And Lance, Angry, and Catalina.”

Varian rubbed the back of his neck, nervously.

“Heh. Yeah, I figured.”

Though it was more dangerous for all of them to know, Varian almost felt a weight lifted off of his shoulders knowing that his friends knew he was fighting for them.

Eugene looked at Varian’s outfit more thoroughly. It was incredibly intricate for being made out of the rocks. He had to guess that the coat alone weighed more than Varian himself.

“That’s  _ some _ outfit you’ve got there.”

Varian looked down, almost forgetting he was still in the moonstone armor.

“Oh, heh, y-yeah. Cassandra thought my clothes needed some upgrades, heh.”

Varian struck a sarcastic pose, making Eugene laugh.

“Ha, that’s one word for it. But count your blessings, kid. At least you don’t have Cass _ an _ dra’s hideous blue hair.”

Varian pointed to the stripe in his own hair, raising an eyebrow.

Eugene backtracked.

“Oh! Of course, it’s not... _ that _ hideous.”

Varian laughed.

“Heh. I’m just messing with you. It-it is pretty...unusual, heh.

“Agreed.”

Varian took off his coat and walked closer to Eugene.

“Does your new ensemble mean you can do the whole magic rock ordeal?” Eugene asked, mocking Cassandra’s moves with his hands.

“Oh, heh! No, thankfully. I am a man of  _ science _ as you know. The, er, magic can stay...over there, heh.”

Eugene pat him on the back, then shivered.

“Oh wow. Her chilling demeanor even rubbed off on you. Literally. Goggles, that is  _ freezing. _ ”

“Heh! Ye-yeah the chemical composition of the rocks exhibits their intense temperature, heh. But it-it’s okay.”

“I don’t know what any of that meant but I’ll take your word for it.”

Varian laughed nervously and rubbed his arm.

“Heh, so uh, what brings you over here anyway? I, uh, did say in my letter how  _ dangerous _ it is if my cover is blown and we’re kinda out in broad daylight right now, heh…” Varian rambled tensely.

Eugene put his hands on Varian’s shoulders, trying to calm him down,

“Well...we’re worried about you, kid. It’s really noble what you’re trying to do but are you sure you can pull this off all on your own? Cass can be extremely hard to deal with. Even harder now that she’s a villain.” Eugene added.

Varian waved him away.  
“Eugene I-I appreciate your concern but I’m doing...fine.” Varian lied. “I know it’s precarious, but if I don’t do this Rapunzel...Rapunzel will die and I can’t take that chance,” he replied, his voice breaking.

“Goggles, believe me, that’s the _ last _ thing that I want, but you don’t have to do this alone. Let us help.”

“I-I would...but it would be putting all of you in danger and I’ve already done that enough…” Varian trailed off, sadly.

Eugene tried to fit in one last joke. After all, laughter is the best medicine.

“Varian,  _ Danger _ is my middle name. Flynn Eugene Danger Fitzherbert.” The captain said cockily.

“Aren’t you forgetting one?” Varian asked sarcastically.

The man rolled his eyes.  
“We do not speak of Horace.”

Varian laughed briefly and then looked off to the side. Eugene noticed his change in demeanor and put a hand on Varian’s arm.  
“There’s no talking you out of this, is there?” Eugene asked, sympathetically.

“It-it’s too late to back out now, heh.” The alchemist stated, dejectedly.

The captain sighed, taking his hand off of Varian.

“Well...is there anything I could do to help?”

“Heh. That’s kind of impossible considering-”

Suddenly, Varian remembered something that Eugene could potentially do.

“Ac-actually there is one thing.”  
The alchemist ran back over to the fortress and grabbed his bag which he had conveniently brought with him. He looked through and retrieved a single piece of paper.

“These are plans to-to a weapon of sorts. I wasn’t sure when I’d have time to actually  _ build _ the device in question, but with you here it actually perfect, heh!”

He handed Eugene the plans, which the man read over, becoming increasingly confused.

“I-uh, I know it looks complicated, but it’s powered by my amber solution. I designed it so that if Cassandra...or even if _I_ lose control, it will have the same reaction to the rock armor that it does with the black rocks.”  
Eugene looked over the plans again, trying to piece everything together.

“So this weapon...has the power to neutralize Cass?”  
“Theoretically, yes. Though I haven’t been able to test it out because, well, I haven’t built it, heh. But-but if you’re able to build project obsidian, you can use it as a defense for the coming attack! It-it might be the only thing that can stop Cass.”

Eugene sighed and looked at Varian.

“Okay, let me get this straight. This incredibly intricate and hard to build weapon is the  _ only _ way to keep Corona safe? And you’re trusting  _ me _ to build it?”

Varian laughed.

“You can find all of the materials in my lab. Just follow the blueprints  _ exactly.  _ No pressure, heh.”

“Well if it’s  _ that _ easy…” Eugene said under his breath. 

The alchemist heard him and his expression deflated. Eugene quickly noticed and rephrased.

“I mean...how hard could it be, ha.”

Varian looked back up and smiled brighter than he had in a while.

“Thank-thank you Eugene.”

“No problem, kid,” Eugene replied, putting the plans into his suit.

Varian started to feel tears brimming, and he just couldn’t help himself. He hugged Eugene tightly, which the man quickly returned. They had both missed each other a lot.

“Team Awesome?” Varian asked quietly.

“Team Awesome,” Eugene replied, validating that whatever happened, they would still have a strong, brotherly bond.

Varian broke out of the embrace and wiped his tears, knowing this might be the last time he ever saw Eugene.

“I-I should probably get back, heh.”

“Don’t get into too much trouble, kid.,” Eugene told him, handing him a letter.

“Is-is this from Rapunzel?” Varian asked, the tears welling back up.

Eugene nodded and grinned.

“Just know that we’re all here for you.”

Suddenly the ground beneath them began to shake, causing Eugene and Varian to stumble back. Varian hastily hid the letter in his bag and put his coat back on.

“Uhh...Now I should really get back-”

Unfortunately, the boy didn’t have time to finish that thought, for the sake of Cassandra stalking up behind him. Varian was terrified, but he didn’t know if she had seen the whole thing. He reluctantly put on his act once again.

“Like I was saying. You should really get back to the safety of your kingdom, _ Eugene. _ While it’s still  _ safe _ anyway…”

“Listen to the kid, Fitzherbert. We don’t want anything to get messier than it has to.” Cassandra said, retrieving her sword.

Eugene glared at Cassandra, but Varian gave the man a knowing look making him back up with Max. Though the horse was on high alert, aggressively grunting at the moonstone wielder.

“Easy, Max,” Eugene told the horse, lowering his voice. “If we’re really being honest, Cass _ an _ dra, the only thing that’s messy about this whole ordeal is your life choices,” Eugene told her obnoxiously.

Varian resisted the urge to laugh as Cass was rendered speechless, only for a moment though.

Eugene turned around, planning to walk away, but a rock shot up from the ground, abruptly blocking his path.

“Says the former thief who  _ wasted  _ most of his life chasing after a petty dream,” Cass retorted, menacingly.

Eugene mockingly put a hand over his heart.

“Cutting deep, Cass _ an _ dra! But the keyword there is ‘former.’ I’m a changed man!”

Varian facepalmed, which was harder than usually considering the rock composure of his gloves.

_ Eugene, you really shouldn’t be saying ‘cutting deep’ while the madwoman is literally holding a sword… _

“Oh please, Fitzherbert. You’re just as shallow as you were then. People never truly change.”

She gestured in the alchemist’s direction.

“Just look at Varian here!”

_ Well,  _ that _ sure cuts deep. _

“You were all buying his little  _ redemption _ , but at the first chance that he got, he joined me because he saw how weak and pathetic you all are. He’s living up to his full potential, no thanks to Corona.”

Varian backed up, clearly stung by her comment though he couldn’t show it.

_ Maybe I should let them duke this out... _

“If you’re trying to get me to join you, Cass _ an _ dra, then that’s a big no. That armor you both are sporting would  _ really _ wash out my impeccable complexion.” Eugene mocked.

Cass laughed, coldly.

“Join  _ me _ ? I would never. I was just letting you in on how pitiful you are since you can’t seem to get it through your thick skull.”

“Eh, I can get it through, I just prefer not to listen to people who spend all of their time in creepy rock towers. Do you get out much, Cass?” Eugene asked smugly.

“It’s humorous that you’re insulting people who spend their time in towers because wasn’t that what  _ Rapunzel _ was doing for most of her life?”

Eugene’s eyes widened and he was quick to correct her.

“Hey, now. I specifically said ‘creepy’ rock towers. That includes you...and Varian I guess. We don’t have to bring Rapunzel into this.”

Cass smiled smugly.

“Oh but we  _ do _ . That’s what this whole thing is about after all. Goth-”

The captain interrupted her.

“Gothel is your mom and you have issues with Rapunzel. I know the sob story. But Cass, that was  _ years  _ ago. And Gothel is not the person you might think. She literally  _ stabbed _ me.”

A rock shot up close to Eugene’s head. Luckily, he side-stepped out of the way in just in time.

“I don’t blame her. If you keep talking I might do the  _ exact same thing _ .”

Eugene curtly laughed.

“Go for it. Once you’ve been stabbed enough you develop immunity for-”

Cassandra jabbed the sword in his direction, making him back up.

“Oh, you’re serious,” Eugene said, becoming a little more scared.

Cassandra dragged the sword on the grass, coming up closer to him.

“Rapunzel will be even more pathetic without her _valiant boyfriend_.”  
Eugene lowered his voice and glared at Cass.

“You can make fun of me all you want, but insulting Rapunzel crosses the line.”

Eugene retrieved his own sword, and Max scraped his hoof on the ground, ready to fight.

Cass let out an unsettling laugh.

“Can’t  _ wait  _ to find out how well that goes for you.”

Cass held her sword in position, while Eugene cautiously stepped towards her, his sword also at the ready. Eugene was prepared to make his first jab when Cassandra stopped and put her sword back in her sheath. Eugene and Varian looked at each other, extremely confused, until Cass backed up and turned to Varian.

“Actually, Varian. Let’s see how much that combat training paid off.” 

Cass reached down and picked up Varian’s sword, handing it to him. Varian’s face paled as he grasped the hilt in his hands. 

“Is-isn’t Eugene at a disadvantage since the structural integrity of the shadowblade disables anything else from striking through it?” Varian asked Cass, timidly.

Cassandra was becoming irritated, and she made a blunt rock appear under Varian, pushing him closer to Eugene.

“Forget the science for one second and just  _ fight. _ It isn’t that hard.” Cass told him between gritted teeth.

Varian gulped and took up position, seeing Eugene’s pained face as he did the same.

“Kid, please, I don’t want to fight you,” Eugene said, lowly.

“You don’t have a  _ choice _ ,” Varian replied. “And neither do I…” He added under his breath.

Eugene took a weak first swing at Varian, which he shakily blocked, trying not to put too much pressure on the man’s sword so he didn’t break it. Eugene’s sword remained intact, though it was slightly starting to splinter under the force of the shadowblade.

“It’s not too late for you to go running back to your  _ precious _ kingdom,” Varian told Eugene, a little more desperately than he intended.

“You know, I would, but the path is conveniently blocked,” Eugene told him, strained.

Varian parried Eugene’s swing which the man prevented, and they went back and forth like that for a while, Eugene’s sword growing weaker by the second.

“You should give up, Eugene. Scientifically, your sword is bound to fragment any minute against the force of the shadowblade.” Varian told him, trying to end the fight.

Eugene took another swing at Varian’s sword, finally shattering his blade. 

Eugene threw up his hands and backed up, eventually hitting the rock behind him. Varian continued with his show and stalked closer, holding the blade out towards him. 

“Just like  _ that _ , heh.”

_ Okay, Varian. You don’t have to go that far... _

He motioned for Cassandra to come over and put his sword back in place. Cass grabbed Eugene by the chin, smiling maliciously.

“Consider this as a warning, Fitzherbert. After all, we wouldn’t want to spoil all the fun, now would we?” Cassandra said, mockingly.

Eugene glared at Cass, breathing heavily.

“We will find a way to defeat you, Cassandra…”

The captain looked over to Varian, who looked extremely uncomfortable and ashamed. He sadly added “Both of you.”

Cass smirked and let go of the man’s chin, lowering the rock behind him, and making him fall to his knees. He started to get up when Cass formed another rock that hit him from the side. The force of the rock caused him to fly into a nearby tree, and land flat on his back. Eugene groaned in pain, as he held his right shoulder.

Varian watched as everything was happening, clearly horrified. But he felt like it was his turn to say something.

“Don’t say we didn’t warn you, Eugene,” Varian spoke up, his voice wavering.

Cassandra bent down to the man’s level, her voice low and laced with venom.

“You better run,  _ Captain Fitzherbert. _ Protect your fragile kingdom while you still can,”

Eugene shared one last sorrowful glance with Varian, before painstakingly standing up and mounting the horse.

“You heard em, Max. This isn’t our fight today,” Eugene whispered to the horse. “Yah!” Max whinnied and raced away with Eugene on his back, still holding his shoulder in pain. Varian watched as they slowly faded away into the distance.

_ I’m so sorry, Eugene… _

Varian’s gaze lingered until he felt an icy hand on his shoulder. 

“That wasn’t half bad, kid. It was a good warmup for what’s coming tomorrow.”

Varian sharply turned around and looked at her frantically.

“To-tomorrow? Heh, uh what-what’s tomorrow?” The alchemist asked nervously.

Cassandra laughed and put an arm around Varian.

“Our second run-in with our old friend  _ Rapunzel,”  _ She answered, ominously.

Varian’s face sank as Cass guided him back to the tower, the ghost girl lurking closely behind. He heard her unsettling cackle and saw her clearly for the first time.

_ “You’re too late, boy…”  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Hopefully, the next one will come sooner! 😅


	8. The Celestial Clash

“Rapunzel?”

The princess sat up slowly in her bed and rubbed her eyes. She thought she heard a familiar, youthful voice as she blinked to focus on the source.

“Rapunzel, please. I don’t have much time.”

As Rapunzel’s eyes began to adjust, she saw the figure of a boy, a blue stripe in his ebony black hair. He looked perfectly normal except for an anxious look in his eye. She was relieved that he wasn’t battered or bruised, and he looked the same as when she had seen him last. The princess jumped out of bed, thrilled and slightly confused to see her friend.

“Varian! How did you escape? I’m so happy you’re okay-”

Rapunzel tried to hug the boy, but he held out a hand to stop her.

“There’s no time for sentimentality, unfortunately, princess. As I said, I can only be here very briefly.”

Rapunzel looked slightly hurt at this but backed up to give him space.

“As you know, Cassandra is growing stronger and there is only one thing that can stop her and save all of Corona.”

Varian pulled out the Demanitus scroll from his pocket and handed it to Rapunzel.

“The scroll was destroyed before I could figure out the last incantation, but there’s an alternative possibility at our disposal,” Varian told her, anxiously.

“There’s another...what do you mean?” The princess asked.

“The stakes may be raised slightly higher, but you’ll do what you must to save your kingdom, won’t you?”

Varian’s voice sounded cynical, almost mocking. This wasn’t like him, but Rapunzel felt like she needed to listen. She deeply sighed and looked Varian dead in the eye, her voice filled with determination.

“What do I have to do?”

Varian smiled smugly.

“I’m sure you’re familiar with your previous maternal figure, Gothel?”

Rapunzel’s eyes widened and her face grew pale at the mention of the name. Gothel had ruined both Cassandra’s and her own life. The princess didn’t want to have anything to do with her anymore, and she certainly didn’t want to hear Gothel referred to as her “maternal figure.” The woman may have seemed to love Rapunzel at times, but it was all artificial affection, buttering her up since she was very young and using her for her power. The story of Gothel and rumors surrounding her spread vastly throughout Corona. Varian must have heard some of them and knew how awful she was. Why would he bring her up like this?

“What about Gothel?” Rapunzel asked, reluctantly.

Varian walked over to the window, beckoning Rapunzel to follow him.

“Her cottage is only a few miles from Corona, and it holds a replica of the Sundrop incantation, copied exactly from the Demanitus Scroll. It’s hidden in a secret compartment; a floor-length mirror in the back of the room. All you have to do is say the incantation, and Cassandra’s powers will be cut off completely.” 

All of this seemed much too good to be true, and Rapunzel couldn’t help but be skeptical.

“Cut off completely? Why didn’t we hear about this before? And how do you know all of this?” Rapunzel inquired.

Varian waved away the questions.

“None of that matters right now. Please Rapunzel, you have to do this. Not only for Corona but for  _ me _ .”

He gestured around the room.

“ _ This _ isn’t real. It’s a vision caused by the moonstone and it sent me to  _ help _ you. In truth, I’m still locked in Cassandra’s tower, and let’s just say I don’t look as  _ favorably _ as I do now,” Varian chuckled darkly, but immediately cut himself off.

Rapunzel raised an eyebrow suspiciously, so he decided to sweeten the deal. Varian inched closer to Rapunzel and grabbed her arms, replicating the first time he had asked for help during the storm.

“I need you to promise that you’ll retrieve the incantation,  _ please. _ ”

Rapunzel hesitated slightly, but when she saw the desperation in Varian’s eyes, she knew she had to do it. Letting him down again, especially this soon, wasn’t an option, even if she wasn’t completely sure why he was acting so strangely.

“Okay, Varian. Don’t worry I’ll find the scroll, defeat Cass, and bring you home. Whatever it takes,” Rapunzel told him, putting her hands on his shoulders in a comforting manner.

The alchemist smiled, but it was much more unsettling than hopeful.

“Excellent,” Varian told her, taking her hand and bringing her back to her bed. “Now, go back to sleep, Sundrop. There is  _ much _ to prepare for.” 

Rapunzel laid on her tremendous mattress and instantly fell asleep, not noticing “Varian’s” huge sadistic smile that formed on his face. His form shifted as the teenage alchemist melted away, and a small, blue-colored ghost floated out of Rapunzel’s dream.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cassandra stood at the edge of her tower, staring coldly at Corona. The sun was shining directly in her face, almost provoking her to go on with her cruel plan. When she was through, the Sun wouldn’t be shining for much longer. Cass turned away from her view and restrained herself from yawning. She hadn’t slept a wink the night before. Mostly out of anticipation for what was to come, but also because of a sinking feeling that she was going to regret this. She brushed the feeling away multiple times, but it just kept coming back. Eventually, she couldn’t stand it anymore and took it out on her fortress in the dead of night. She swung her sword violently around the throneroom, slashing through her floors and embellishments and creating a giant hole in the wall facing Corona. She didn’t care to fix any of it, as she kicked some of the small rocks that were in her way while she paced around the room again.

In a gust of wind, the enchanted girl was right back at Cassandra’s side.

“Did you make sure that Rapunzel will come?” Cass asked, aloofly.

The girl laughed with a chilling air, making the hairs on Cassandra’s neck stand up straight.

“Trust me, Cassandra. She’d have to be the most coldhearted person in this world to pass up my offer. And that simply isn’t capable of the Sundrop,” the girl vocalized, slyly.

“Good…” Cassandra replied reluctantly. She didn’t know what it was, but lately, the ghost girl was making her more and more uncomfortable.

“Uh, and thank you, by the way. For yesterday. Your idea to make Varian prove his loyalty to me worked pretty well.”

“Ah, yes. Well, he definitely showed that he’s willing to fight against those who he previously considered friends in the name of destiny…”

The blue phantom hovered close to Cassandra, making her back away. The girl took on a whispering tone.

“Unless you think he was just...doing it for show?”

Cassandra didn’t get a chance to respond when Varian came sauntering into the throne room. The girl eyed him with a smile and left the same way that she came in.

Varian had also stayed up all night, tossing and turning because he hadn’t gotten an opportunity to warn Rapunzel of the upcoming attack. He knew at this point that he had to face Rapunzel. She would have to see him fully clad in his armor, shielding his vulnerable feelings in a dark facade. That thought ran through his mind the entire night and mixed with the excruciating headaches that somehow got worse, it resulted in a night full of tears that wouldn’t stop. As Varian walked into Cassandra’s throne room, his sense of dread only became more detrimental. The tear stains were still lingering on his face, along with the dark circles under his hooded eyes. On top of the armor, and his sullen expression, he really did look like a full-fledged villain.

“Well...someone got into character,” Cassandra said as he walked in.

Varian’s eyes widened significantly and he sharply turned around.

“Wha-what do you mean? Heh…” Varian asked nervously.

Cassandra laughed and gestured to his look.

“You look ready to  _ murder _ someone, Varian.”

Varian sighed in relief and laughed along.

“Heh! Oh, heh, yeah. I, uh, didn’t sleep much last night.”

“Join the club. I know you’re nervous but you’ll feel better when we get there.” Cass told him, patting him on the back.

The boy gulped nervously.

“Yeah...yeah probably,” Varian trailed off. “So, uh, whe-when are we going to Corona?”

“Oh, ha. Actually we’re going somewhere...different.”  
Varian’s blood ran cold, and his breathing got quicker as the room began to lower. 

“Di-different? What do you mean-”

Varian was cut off when he felt the searing pain in his head come back, but this time it crawled down to his chest as well. The alchemist crumpled to his knees, holding his head. Out of the corner of his eye, he almost swore he could see the stripe in his hair flash a bright blue. This all happened so fast that Cassandra hardly saw any of it, but she was bothered when she saw him kneeling on the floor.

“Again?” Cass asked, concerned. “Varian something has to be wrong with you-”

The boy cut her off and tried to choke out some words amidst the pain.

“No...I- _ agh! _ I-I’m f-f-fine…”

He held up a hand to try to stop her when she bent down to help.

“Are you sure? Do you think it’s a migraine or-?” Cass asked, concerned.  
“N-no it’s-it’s...nothing.” 

Varian sighed deeply as the effects wore off.

“How often does that happen?” Cassandra asked, helping him up.

“Uh...oft-often enough, heh,” Varian answered, brushing off the question. He stood up straight, trying to maintain his dignity and gave Cassandra a shaky, snide smile. He held out his hand, gesturing for her to step off of the platform first.

“Well, shall we get started? Heh…”

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Quirin and Hector had been traveling for days, barely stopping to sleep or eat when they finally arrived at the Dark Kingdom. It looked just like Quirin remembered, the shadowy dark stone of the castle contrasting with the bright, reflective moonstone rocks in the background. As the two made it across the gorge and walked closer to the entrance, they noticed that the kingdom was understandably in shambles. It had been abandoned for 25 years, after all.

The Darl Kingdom was the core of the moonstone’s power. It always had been. The moonstone had hurt many people, even killing some at times. Society had always been controlled by the stone. Rocks would spike up wherever they pleased, threatening the citizens, forcing everyone to change the way they live based on moonstone’s every whim. Eventually, it caused the king to force everyone to leave, but not without casualties. The king’s own wife perished when the moonstone exploded, and Quirin himself was caught in the deadly blast. The moonstone explosion ensured that life would never be the same. 

Quirin still got shudders remembering that fateful day. The day they were all banished and the brotherhood was sent out to protect anyone from seeking out the moonstone. Hector was right. Quirin had failed this duty and now his son was in peril because of it. He had to do everything he could now to make this right and bring him home.

The two knights entered the kingdom to be greeted by the final member of the brotherhood, sitting close to the entrance, meditating. She opened her eyes, and couldn’t help but smile when she saw the familiar face.

“Wait is that...Stickler? I haven’t seen you in 25 years!”

Quirin laughed slightly at the old nickname and greeted his “sister.”

“Hello, Adira. It has been a while.”

“How is your family in Old Corona? You have that son…”

Adira snapped her fingers, trying to remember his name.

“Varitas? Var-”

Quirin cut her off.

“Ah, yes. _ Varian  _ is actually the reason that I’m here.”

Adira threw up her hands, remembering the familiar name.

“That’s right! Varian. The little alchemist boy. Smart kid. Is he still in jail?” She questioned.

Quirin was slightly taken aback at the casual air of the question but shook his head and sighed.  
“No. The princess graciously pardoned him. But I’m afraid he’s in a much more serious position now.” Quirin told her, somberly.

Hector chimed in, glaring at Adira. “ _ Yeah _ . I wonder who’s fault _ that  _ is…”

Adira looked over to where Hector was standing, partially hidden by shadows, and her expression dropped.

“Oh,  _ great _ . You brought Rhino Man,” she added, rolling her eyes. She tilted her head past Quirin to get a better look at Hector.

“I can see you, you know. You’re not as discreet as you think, Hector.”

The disheveled man stepped into the light to face the charismatic warrior, rolling his eyes as he retorted her insult.

“And neither are  _ you. _ I see you screwed up your goal of reuniting the sundrop and the moonstone. The opal is more unstable than ever, thanks to you,  _ Adira. _ ”

The woman walked closer to Hector, crossing her arms and scowling.

“It’s not  _ my _ fault Short Hair decided to go completely rogue! She and the princess had their  _ own _ emotional issues.”

Hector stalked closer to Adira as well until they were only inches apart.

“I warned you what would happen if the moonstone fell into the wrong hands. This is  _ all _ on you,” He told her, slightly pushing her.

Adira scowled at him.

“We’ve known each other for over 40 years and yet you  _ still  _ forget that I don’t like being  _ touched!”  _ She told him, raising her voice.

Adira got ready to strike back with her foot in the air, but it came down on Quirin instead, who stepped between the two.

“Oh! Sorry, Stickler. That was meant for Rhino Man,” Adira apologized as Quirin fell.

Hector displayed another heavy eye roll.

“Oh for the love- Adira, just call me  _ Hector _ ,” The man said dryly.

“Mm, I’d rather not,” she replied, nonchalantly.

Hector growled at her, making her slightly laugh.

“Rhino Man, you resemble your beastly pets more every day!”

Quirin weakly stood up from the ground and tried to break off the bickering.

_ “Enough!”  _ He bellowed, grabbing both of their attention.

“Adira, Hector. I  _ know _ you’re both at odds right now but time is running out-”

The knight suddenly saw a faint glow emanating from underneath his glove. He quickly took off the gauntlet to find his brotherhood symbol flashing bright blue. His eyes widened and he started running into the palace.

“Quirin? Where are you going? And for that matter, why are you _both_ here?” Adira questioned, calling after Quirin.  
“I don’t have time to explain! My son is in _danger_ and we need to act _fast,_ ” Quirin replied, frantically.

Adira and Hector looked at each other, worriedly and followed Quirin up the steps to the palace. They had never heard that amount of desperation in the man’s voice, and they both knew that this was a matter of life or death.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The moonstone “warriors” arrived at their destination: Gothel’s cottage. Cassandra was becoming more concerned about Varian since he hadn’t stood up straight the whole way while they were walking. He kept clutching his chest and lightly moaning, even though he tried to hide it. Multiple times the two had to stop so Varian could take a breather. Cassandra could tell that he was in a ton of pain. She had never seen him like this before; not even when she drugged him with the truth serum. 

Varian’s chest pain lingered for a long time while they were walking, but seemed to stop completely when they arrived at the cottage. It was so jarring that Varian fell to his knees again, but got up quickly. Cassandra seemed to be in some kind of daze staring at the house that she once considered home. 

“S-so, this is the place?” 

Cassandra stared a little longer and then curtly nodded.

“Come on. Rapunzel should be here soon,”

Varian gulped and hesitantly followed Cass into the house. 

Cassandra looked around the room, shuddering as she saw the untouched remnants of her childhood. Her mother’s huge bed next to her own small one, a miniature wooden heart laying on the pillow. She saw her mother’s vanity, one of the many mirrors that were scattered throughout the cottage. The last thing she saw was a small, dusty music box sitting on top of a chest of drawers. She wanted to wind it, and reminisce in her childhood years, but she restrained herself, knowing there wasn’t time.

Cass grabbed Varian’s hand and they raced to the back of the cottage. She pulled him behind the undusted folding screen in the shadows, where they sat in hiding, waiting for Rapunzel. Cassandra, anticipating the princess’ arrival; Varian, dreading it; and Zhan Tiri seeing every part of her plan fall into place.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rapunzel crossed the small stream in front of Gothel’s Cottage, the air feeling more frigid as she approached the door. The entire atmosphere of the place was extremely eerie and foreboding. The quaint cottage was abandoned through and through, vines covering every inch of the house. Once Rapunzel brushed away the shrubbery, she opened the decaying, wooden door which creaked when she walked through. Rapunzel took a deep breath and laid her toe onto the floor, having to pull it up again because the stone-like ground was so freezing. Her reaction was much like dipping a toe into a cold pool. She closed her eyes and tried again, carefully placing her foot fully on the floor. The chills she felt became more stimulating as she approached the body length mirror Varian had told her about. Suddenly, the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end: she was being watched. She looked behind her cautiously, but when she saw no one, she continued on with her quest. She had to push all of her other feelings aside. The only thing that mattered now was helping Varian, defeating Cass, and hopefully getting both of her friends back in the process.

Rapunzel’s long, golden hair contrasted with the darkness of the room showing another evidence that she shouldn’t be there. Rapunzel looked at her reflection briefly in the mirror. Her eyes had dark rings under them from her lack of sleep, awaiting this very moment. She shook her head and went through with her plan. She placed the palm of her hand in the center of the mirror, and the glass started shifting. Liquifying and shimmering brightly, until there was a harsh flash of light. The pieces of the mirror shattered all around her, clattering to the floor. Rapunzel took a step back and shielded her face with her hair as the mirror broke, trying to protect her self from getting cut.

As the last of the pieces fell, Rapunzel styled her hair back into its signature braid and stepped through the opening the mirror had created.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cassandra and Varian watched the events unfold, none of them making a sound. They were both surprised, to say the least, and Cassandra had no clue what Rapunzel was doing. The warrior glared at the princess, standing up slightly but realizing that she didn’t want to break their cover. She looked sharply at Varian, who flinched slightly.

“Wait for my cue, and block the door. When Rapunzel comes out of there, distract her while I prepare to attack. I have to have a little chat with...someone,” Cass whispered in his ear, being careful not to give herself away.

She stood up silently, creeping even further back. Varian knew who she was talking to; the demon girl. She had followed them there and through the pain of his chest, Varian could clearly see her and the sadistic smile she was wearing. Varian had half a mind to run up to Rapunzel then and there, but he knew it would mean doom for both of them if Cassandra caught him. He continued waiting, and every minute that went by it got harder and harder to breathe. 

As Cassandra was angrily whispering with the demon, she signaled to Varian, and he reluctantly stood up. He carefully crept to the open door and wedged himself between it and the wall. His foot was resting against the wall as well, prepping to kick the door shut when Rapunzel emerged. He took a few shaky breaths, trying to think of another “foolproof” plan on the spot, but nothing he came up with had a positive outcome.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rapunzel journeyed further into the mirror room, which looked almost like a shrine to the sundrop. It had a warmer atmosphere than the cottage itself, with yellow lanterns, that were somehow still lit, hanging from the ceiling. There were papers and scrolls pinned up all over the room, all of them containing ancient symbols and writings. But the thing that attracted the most attention from Rapunzel, was the small pedestal in the center containing a cracked pot with a golden flower growing out of it. 

Rapunzel took a step back at the sight. After all, Varian had destroyed the flower a year ago. But under closer inspection, Rapunzel saw that this wasn’t the Sundrop Flower, but a mere replica. The petals were a different shape, and the flower itself was a lot smaller. Gothel was most likely trying to grow her own in case the plan with Rapunzel failed. But apparently, that plan was deserted as well since the petals were dry and withered. The princess shivered at the memories and returned to the task at hand. She glanced at all the scrolls again and picked up one that looked the most similar to the Demanitus scroll. There, inscribed on the left side, was the ultimate Sundrop incantation. Gothel must have forgotten about it when she got so enthralled in Rapunzel’s hair and staying young. Rapunzel stuffed the scroll in her bag and began walking out of the room when she heard a blatant slam behind her.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Varian kicked the door shut, harshly, and surfaced from the shadows. Rapunzel was so startled when she saw him, that she sharply gasped, not believing what she was seeing. The princess froze in place, analyzing every part of what Varian had become. Even though the alchemist was shorter than Rapunzel, he seemed to loom over her, menacingly. He was fully clad in the black rock armor, complete with a sword, and a glare in his eye that brought her back to the time in his lab years ago. The boy looked so sure of himself, so fearless as if he was truly on Cassandra’s side. It took Rapunzel a moment to remember that he was just putting on a facade. It calmed her a little bit to know that Varian was still the caring boy that he was a month ago, but all she could see in him now was cold, dark hatred. He uttered a malicious laugh, and she was back at his lab all over again.

Varian stalked toward her, a snide smile resting comfortably on his face. Though his head and his chest were still sore, he smiled through the pain, knowing what was at risk if he didn’t. He dramatically bowed and looked up at Rapunzel’s terrified, yet determined appearance. He couldn’t help but get flashbacks of his own to that fateful night.

“Surprised to see me, aren’t we  _ Rapunzel?” _ Varian’s voice echoed through the room, somehow making the air seem even colder than before. Rapunzel was too shocked to speak, so he went on.

“ _ Please _ , hold your applause. I know my new look can be quite...jarring, to say the least, heh. But the moonstone suits me well. Don’t you think?” Varian’s words were filled with sarcasm and acid as he moved closer to the princess. He wanted to cringe, but something about this felt...good.

_ No. That isn’t you anymore. This is just an act...right? _

Rapunzel searched his face to try to find a hint of hesitation, just some kind of reassurance that he was still in there, but she found nothing. Rapunzel still couldn’t find any words to say, leading Varian to continue, walking around her mockingly.

“Ah, princess. How long has it been? A year or two since a...similar encounter?”

Rapunzel found herself glaring at Varian. That was a sensitive day for both of them. Why would he bring that up? Varian stopped pacing behind her, leaning in close.

“Funny how history repeats itself,  _ isn’t it?” _

Rapunzel backed away from him, suddenly feeling threatened by the alchemist. She finally found the words to say something, choosing them carefully.

“Varian. Please understand. The moonstone...it’s extremely dangerous and-”

Rapunzel was cut off by another curt laugh, as Varian faced her again.

“Ha. Right, ‘dangerous.’ I can’t help but notice that you’ve used that word a lot,  _ princess _ . You and the whole kingdom of Corona. It’s even been used to describe  _ me.”  _

_ This is getting too real. I should probably bring it back- _

“Varian...I’m sorry. I’m sorry about everything that happened, but this isn’t you. Please just come home with us,” Rapunzel pleaded, reaching out towards him.

_ Don’t...give...in- _

“Oh! Pray tell, what’s going to happen when I get ‘home?’ I’ll just be thrown in jail again. Imprisoned for being ‘dangerous’ and just...just doing what I could to help my dad when  _ no one  _ else cared!” 

Varian drew in a sharp breath, realizing that the words he just said weren’t false at all. In fact, they were as real as the pain in his chest that was only getting stronger.

Rapunzel blinked in surprise as she stared back at the sad, broken boy who stood before her. It didn’t take much to tell her that he was no longer playing a part. She didn’t know what to say or do, as she stood there watching Varian’s anger slowly overtake him.

“I-I’ve made my choice.”  
Varian turned away, not meeting Rapunzel’s eyes. His voice was low, almost sounding defeated.

“There’s nothing for me in Corona now.”

_ Is that true? Am I ever going back? And what’s going to happen if I do? _

“That’s not true, Varian. We forgive you. _ I  _ forgive you. And I’m sorry for all that happened. This...this isn’t the way.”

_ This is the only way. _

“You’re _ wrong. _ Those people...they-they still  _ resent _ me. The best thing I can do is be what everyone expects,” Varian looked down at his hand and clenched it. “Then, no one gets hurt,” he voiced with a low tone.

_...Except me. _

His eyes drifted to the folding screen where Cassandra was waiting, eyeing him suspiciously. He took up his facade again, shrugging nonchalantly.

“Or they all get hurt. Either way, I end up on top.”

Rapunzel started to move past him, so he stopped her, blocking her way with his shadowblade.

“Princess, I  _ must _ insist that you stay for the  _ main event _ …”

Varian moved behind Rapunzel, turning her towards Cassandra, and gestured grandly at the moonstone warrior.

Cassandra stepped out from behind the folding screen, her expression dead-set with a sneer that made Rapunzel’s blood run cold. Varian walked over to where Cassandra was standing but backed up to give her and Rapunzel space. He had done his part, and now it was time for him to think of a plan, and fast.

The Moonstone retrieved her sword, dragging it on the floor as she walked toward the Sundrop, creating that awful screeching noise that Varian couldn’t stand. When Cassandra was close enough to Rapunzel, she put the tip of the sword on the ground and leaned on the hilt, taking on a very mocking and cynical tone.

“Hello,  _ Raps. _ You really didn’t think you could avoid us  _ forever _ , did you?”

Rapunzel glared at Cass but tried to reason with her the best that she could.

“I wasn’t trying to avoid you at all, Cassandra. You were perfectly capable of distancing yourself from  _ me _ on your own,” Rapunzel told her, taking a fighting stance.

Cassandra opened her mouth to say something, but couldn’t come up with anything. Rapunzel wasn’t wrong. Cass had made an entire fortress to keep from seeing Rapunzel. Cassandra glared at the princess, rocks spiking around her feet, closing in on Rapunzel.

The ghost girl hovered over to Cass, shaking her head.

“You’re straying off course, Cassandra. You’re here to  _ destroy _ her.”

“I  _ know _ ,” Cass bit back, angrily.

She focused back on Rapunzel.

“Maybe you should have considered that as a  _ favor. _ After all, your last visit didn’t go  _ quite _ as planned. In fact, if you hadn’t  _ escaped _ ...” Cassandra shot Varian a sharp look and he backed away as she turned back to Rapunzel. “you wouldn’t be standing here today.”

Rapunzel was undeterred by her statement and looked at her fiercely.

“Cass, I don’t  _ want _ to fight you. But I’ll do whatever it takes. For the good of Corona.”

“Oh. I’ve heard  _ that _ one before.”

Cassandra and Rapunzel both looked at Varian who had uttered those words before he could stop himself. 

Rapunzel felt so hurt. She knew what Varian was referring to; the time in Herz De Sonne’s tunnels when he took the flower and lied to her about saving Corona. He used her allegiance to her kingdom against her, manipulating her to steal the sundrop flower. If he really was pretending, he wasn’t doing a very good job of it.

Cassandra glanced at him skeptically but then turned back to Rapunzel, who seemed to have tears forming in her eyes. Cassandra smirked, knowing Varian’s comment had weakened her.

“Not bad kid,” she said under her breath. 

The alchemist heard this, however, and looked down shamefully. 

_ I deeply hurt Rapunzel. Again. And the worst part is, I executed this plan so Rapunzel  _ wouldn’t  _ get hurt.  _

Varian stepped further back into the shadows as tears pooled up in his own eyes. The pains started back up again, this time traveling down to his rib cage. He held his stomach as more tears started to fall.

_ Why-why do I always have to make everything  _ worse?

Cassandra picked up her sword and pointed it at Rapunzel.

“Well, I guess you have quite the dilemma,  _ princess.” _

Cass lunged at Rapunzel with her sword, as the princess blocked her blow with her hair. They did this a few more times until Cassandra decided to go further. She formed rocks around Rapunzel’s hair, pinning it to the ground. Rapunzel screamed in pain as she hastily seized the incantation from her bag. She read it over silently before Cass could strike again. Unfortunately, Cassandra saw this action. 

“Well isn’t this _ terrific.  _ The fate of Corona lies within an old scroll.” 

Cassandra summoned some blunt rocks from behind Varian, pushing him out of his shadowy hiding place and towards Rapunzel.

“Or at least it  _ did _ ,” Cassandra remarked, snidely. “Varian could you-”

She was cut off when the ghost girl approached her again, more frantically than usual.

“Focus on the Sundrop. Don’t let her get into your head. It’s just an old piece of paper It probably holds  _ sentimental _ value to her...”

Cassandra eyed the girl suspiciously, but still did what she said.

“Actually, let her keep it. Might as well let her have  _ some _ comfort before she’s totally destroyed.”

Varian eyed the scroll in Rapunzel’s hand. There was definitely something off about this. Varian looked to the demon girl, and sure enough, there was a huge smile plastered on her face. As the pains traveled down to his stomach, he could see a shadow of something behind the girl. A monster-like figure with huge spiked horns and tentacles. He had read enough Corona legends to know that the “demon girl” was no ordinary demon. She was  _ Zhan Tiri. _

Varian frantically reached out to Rapunzel to try and grab the scroll, but it was too late. The two celestial wielders had already prepared to fight. Rapunzel echoed the Ultimate Sun Incantation, and Cassandra fired back with the Moon. 

“Power of the sun…”  
“Crescent high above-”  
“Gift me with your light…”  
“Evolving as you go-”

“Shine into the dark…”

“Raise what lies beneath-”

“Restore our fading sight…”

“And let the darkness grow-”

The force that the two incantations created, shook the entire house violently. Varian quickly jumped away from the magical clash and ran to a corner, curling up and trying to shield himself from the debris flying his way.

Cassandra began to violently raise her hands, rocks springing up everywhere. Rapunzel lifted off the ground, the rocks around her hair falling to pieces. Her hair and eyes were shining as bright as the sun itself. She raised her hands as well, destroying Cassandra’s rocks. The pain that Varian felt only became stronger as the moonstone’s magic grew fiercer. He reeled in agony, breathing heavily as the remnants of the rocks fell around him. 

Cass was getting angrier by the second as more of her rocks turned to dust under the power of the Sundrop. She continued echoing her chilling incantation, overlapping directly with the Sundrop.

“Rise into the dawn…”

“Bend it to my will-”

“Blazing star so  _ bright! _ ”

Rapunzel sent out a ray of light so vibrant and strong that it ripped off the entire roof of the cottage. Varian fought to stay in his position as the wind blew more wildly around them. He squinted into the cottage to try and find Zhan Tiri, but she was nowhere to be found. 

“Consume the sunlight’s glow-”

_ “Burn away the strife…” _

“Raise what lies beneath-”  
**_“And let my hope ignite!”_**

Rapunzel emitted another harsh beacon of light, blowing the rest of the cottage away. A rock that got whisked away in the blast almost hit Varian straight in the head, but he ducked down just in time. As he stood up, he saw a warped rift forming in Cassandra and Rapunzel’s crossfire. He knew that this could only mean bad things, and it didn’t help that Zhan Tiri was missing. The alchemist struggled to trudge through the harsh winds and the energies coming from the magic battle, slashing through the black rocks with his shadowblade as Cassandra created them. He got close to the moonstone wielder, and grabbed her arm harshly, pleading with her to snap out of it.

“ _ Cassandra! Cass! _ You-you need to stop- _ agh! _ ”

Suddenly, a rock shot up and hit Varian in the side, throwing him to the ground brutally.

“And let the darkness  _ grow!” _

The moonstone began to sputter and flicker, letting out sparks and flashes. Cassandra gripped her chest and fell to her knees.

Varian wasn’t quite unconscious yet, and he could barely see the rift in the center morph into a blue and black swirling vortex. His eyes widened in horror and dread as he also saw Cassandra, clasping the moonstone to her chest, and gasping for breath. She weakly tried to say the rest of the chant.

“ _ Let my hope. _ .”

“Let...the..darkness-”

Cassandra wasn’t able to finish the incantation when another blast from Rapunzel hit her directly.

**_“Ignite!”_ **

A huge flash of light came off of the moonstone, blasting away everything in sight. Varian felt a violently painful shock through his entire body, and he finally passed out as he saw Zhan Tiri rising into the vortex.

_ I...guess...this-this is...the end. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OOOO cliffhanger...  
> This one was pretty intense, hence why it took so long to write. I really hope y'all enjoyed it!


	9. True Intentions

The moon started to rise into the sky as the sun moved away, shrouding everything in darkness. The place where the cottage once stood was now in shambles. The roof and the surrounding walls had been ripped to shreds, leaving behind a mere skeleton of a house. Two figures clothed in glowing armor stood out among the wreckage. The moonstone warrior looked over the alchemist as he laid, pale, and exhausted on the ground. His face was wet with tears that weren’t his own. 

It had been at least an hour since the fight, but it felt like an eternity. Cassandra’s chest burned and she reached up to rub the moonstone. It sparked and shocked her when she touched it, but she was used to its aggressiveness. She ran her finger over the opal as she had a dozen times before. It was her sense of security, knowing that she was still in control of her destiny. As she caressed the stone on her chest, she noticed a jagged edge that wasn’t there before. Panicked, she rubbed her finger over the spot again and looked down at the stone. She drew in a sharp breath when she realized that part of the moonstone had broken off, but her anxieties were cut off when she saw some movement in front of her.

Varian shifted in place, causing Cassandra’s head to snap up, giving him her full attention. Varian’s eyes fluttered open and he reached up to touch his face. His hand came away wet, and he shut his eyes again, not wanting to see any blood. Out of curiosity, he squinted at his finger. There were no traces of red, but his face was definitely wet with something. Varian looked up to see Cassandra hastily wiping tears from her face.

_Wait...was Cass crying? Over...me?_

Varian groaned and tried to sit up as Cass grabbed his hand and helped him, letting out a relieved laugh.

“You gave me a scare, Varian. I didn’t think you would-”

The boy cut her off. He didn’t like talking about death, especially his own.

“Heh, I-I’ve yet to die from an explosion. This was basically just another Tuesday for me, heh!” His voice sounded weak and worn out, and the laugh he tried to force caused a sharp pain to go up through his ribs. He buckled down again, clutching his torso.

Cassandra examined him, searching for any signs of injuries he might have endured from the fight.

“Nothing looks broken, so that’s good. I think your coat and armor protected you from any serious injuries.”

Varian nodded but winced in pain again as he tried to stand up.

“Don’t say ‘it’s nothing’ this time. Something is definitely going on, Varian. Now would be a good time to come clean about it.”

The boy sighed but followed Cassandra’s order reluctantly.

“Fine. I-I’ve been having these...pains. They started out as just small headaches a few days after I started living in the tower, but they just continued to get...worse. Now it just feels like my body is on fire from my torso up. I-I still don’t understand…”

Varian trailed off as his head started hurting again. He held it in his hands and tried to take short breaths. Cassandra looked at him with sympathy when something caught her eye.

“Varian…?”

The alchemist was concerned by the tone of her voice but then looked to where she was pointing. The normally dull-colored, blue stripe in his hair was glowing brightly, and it wouldn’t stop. Varian’s breathing quickened, and he held the strip of hair out in front of him to check if it wasn’t just a trick of the light. Sure enough, the boy’s hair was glowing as bright as a beacon.

“What-what’s happening?”

Cassandra didn’t have time to answer when Varian’s stripe slowly flickered out, returning to its normal color. The pain faded away and Varian slowly stood to his feet.

“Is that new?” Cassandra asked after a while.

“Y-yeah. Extremely,” the boy replied, still slightly in shock.

Varian scanned around the demolished area, searching for any sign of a princess with long golden hair. When there was no trace of her, he thought it was best to assume that she escaped. He hated thinking otherwise. 

As he was looking around, he saw a small figure moving towards them through the fog and rubble. Cassandra noticed that Varian had frozen in place, so she followed his path of sight. Emerging out of the shadows was-

 _“Zhan Tiri.”_ Varian realized.

The demon beckoned Cassandra, and she warily walked over to her, Varian following close behind. 

“Well done, Cassandra. Phase one of our plan has been completed.” The girl vocalized, chillingly.

Cass took a step back and glanced at Varian who was glaring at the girl. She looked much different than she had before. For one, she was no longer a ghost which Cassandra came to realize wasn’t a good thing. She also had hair that matched Cassandra’s in hue, if not a little bit darker. Her eyes were also a piercing blue, and she wore a black and blue-accented dress. Her deranged smile was more unsettling now than ever before, but it almost intrigued Cass to find out more about what she was talking about.

“Who are you?”

Cassandra drew closer to the girl as she ominously stood there, anticipating her every move. Varian tried his best to warn her.

“Cassandra, don’t! She’s-”

Zhan Tiri nonchalantly reached out and touched Cassandra’s arm, sending fast-paced flashbacks into her brain. She saw the moonstone break, revealing a huge creature with horns and tentacles. She saw a silhouette of herself with the moonstone and one of Varian, the streak of his hair shining brightly. Then everything was covered in black as the flashbacks ended with an echoing of the name “Zhan Tiri.”

Cassandra stepped back in complete shock. The moonstone began sparking again, reflecting the anxiety she was feeling.

“You’re...you’re that ancient demon. The one who caused the blizzard a year ago. The one who everyone’s been talking about. Zhan-”

The demon waved her statement away.

“Zhan Tiri, yes. That’s what I have come to be called. But that shouldn’t affect our relationship, Cassandra. We’re _so_ close to our goals.”

“Cass, don-don’t listen to her! She doesn’t want to help you,” Varian told her, desperately.

The moonstone warrior backed away slightly and turned back to the boy who was reaching his arm out to her. Zhan Tiri merely chuckled.

“Oh, Cassandra. You’re really willing to take _his_ word over mine? The same boy who has _betrayed_ you and _lied_ to you this whole time?” 

Varian’s eyes widened as Cassandra sharply glared at him, her dark voice sounding hurt.

“What is she talking about?”

Varian tried to defend himself and come up with an excuse on the spot.

“Cass I-”

The demon laughed again and cut him off.

“Let’s just say that the ‘faulty traps’ at your tower were no _accident._ He’s been siding with the princess behind your back, even sending letters to her courtesy of your very own pet. He never cared about you. He only ever cared about the well-being of his _own kingdom_.”

Hot, rage-filled tears stung at Cassandra’s eyes. She tried to contain them, but a few leaked out, spiking tiny black rocks on the ground.

“Is this true?” Cass asked him, deadpan.

The alchemist sighed deeply, knowing the jig was up. He had to come clean.

“Y-yes. But I still care about you, Cass. I-”

“Oh, you do? Really? Even though you went behind my back to try and _sabotage_ me?”

Cassandra’s voice was laced with venom and anger, making Varian take a step back. Zhan Tiri watched the exchange, smiling viciously.

“Cassandra, please I never wanted to sabotage you. I...I wanted to help you and bring you back. Rapunzel wants to help you-”

Rocks began spiking up all around Varian, causing him to trip and fall on his back.  
“Rapunzel just _attacked_ me! And _you_ helped her do it! Oh, you were trying to save face for me and say all of those _horrible_ things to her but it was all an act. I can’t believe I didn’t see it before. All of that talk of ‘you don’t need violence to achieve your destiny.’ I thought you were just nervous but you were only thinking of _yourself.”_

Varian was also beginning to boil up with anger, but he had to contain himself in order to bring her back. Even if that involved lying to her and himself.

“You’re right. I-I was being selfish.”

 _Except for that was the_ opposite _of what I was doing. When will the lies stop?_

“But now we all have a bigger enemy. Zhan Tiri is just using you. We have to stop her!”

Cass looked back at the demon and started inching closer to Varian, retracting the rocks that were surrounding him.

Zhan Tiri raised her voice, becoming a little more frantic, trying even harder to persuade her moonstone wielder.

“Come now, Cassandra. The boy as been _lying_ to you all this time! Do you really think he’d stop now? I’m your _friend._ I’m helping you claim what’s rightfully yours. _He_ hurt you significantly. Maybe even more than Rapunzel. _I_ say we take the boy and give him a lesson he’ll _never forget_ while he watches his precious Corona fall.”

Cassandra moved closer to Zhan Tiri, the demon’s words becoming enticing. She studied her again, and then glanced back at Varian.

There was a significant difference that she immediately picked up. The demon was talking to her like a pawn in her game and staring enviously at the moonstone on her chest, not having any sympathy for Cassandra herself. On the other side, Varian was desperately reaching out to her, looking her dead in the eye, wanting her to come back home. Despite what he had done, Varian _cared_ about her. He knew what she was going through and wanted to help her through it. _He_ was the one who wanted her to find her true destiny.

She sharply turned around and firmly grabbed onto Varian’s hand.

“He may have _hurt_ me, but at least he’s not _using_ me.”

Cassandra quickly formed a black rock cage around Zhan Tiri, and Varian followed suit, throwing a bright blue alchemy ball from his belt at her feet and instantly trapping her. The two sprinted back to the tower as Varian’s hair stripe started brightly glowing once more.

Zhan Tiri laughed and called after them from her cage.

“Yes, run now, precious moonstones, but your time will soon _run out_.”

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Where _is_ it?” Quirin asked, as he frantically searched through the abandoned castle.

Adira rummaged through a chest at the other side of the room, haphazardly throwing things at Hector who was standing behind her.

“I don’t know! I wasn’t the one who _made_ it! I guess Rhino Man is just good at hiding things. Which is one of the only things he’ll ever be good at.” Adira remarked, smugly.

She threw a shield at Hector, who caught it and used it to deflect all of the other objects that were hurtling his way.

“Oh really? Well, you seem to be _great_ at screwing with the celestial elements and putting the world in danger! I can play that card too, Adira,” Hector fired back.

The woman scoffed. “Well in my defense-”

“Can you two stop fighting for one measly second and _focus!_ ” Quirin bellowed.

The room became dead silent as Adira stopped ransacking the chest and Hector put down his shield. When Quirin was mad, it was best that they listen.

“Alright, alright. You heard the Stickler. We-”

She was cut off when Quirin’s symbol started glowing again, followed by Adira’s and then Hector’s.

“We need to find the spear _now.”_ Quirin vocalized, angrily. “Hector, do you have any idea where you put it?”

“I told you. It’s in this room.”

Quirin looked around the enormous throne room and then glared daggers at Hector.

“Can you see how that doesn’t help much?”

Hector tensely rolled his eyes. He didn’t want to admit it, but Quirin was pretty scary when he was angry. 

“Fine. I hid it under a stone in the wall close to the throne.” He responded, gesturing to the wall.

Quirin pushed past him and started clawing out the stones with his bare hands. Adira and Hector watched in shock for a while before joining him, prying out stones with their swords as fast as they could.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cassandra and Varian sprinted as fast as they possibly could to the tower. The pain that Varian felt kept creeping in, but he tried to ignore it, using all his strength to get as far away as possible from Zhan Tiri. 

Once the two arrived at the fortress, they were incredibly out of breath, so much so that Varian collapsed on the ground again. Cassandra simply rolled her eyes and waited for him to stand up, not even bothering to see if he was okay. Varian noticed Cass’ lack of sympathy and reluctantly stood up, giving her a quizzical and slightly sad look. His big blue eyes seeming to pierce into her soul.

“Oh don’t give me that, _traitor._ Why should I help you when all you’ve been doing this whole time is _hurt me?_ ”

Cass tried to sound bold and unfeeling, but her voice still broke at the end.

“Cassandra I...I wasn’t trying to hurt you. I just needed to-”

“ _Save Rapunzel,_ I know. But Varian, Rapunzel is my _enemy_ . By helping her you’re automatically _harming_ me,” She scoffed. “Some _genius,_ you are.” Cass’s words were filled with malice. She pulled out her sword, the blade glinting in the moonlight. She smirked to herself watching as Varian cringed and backed up from her. This was going to _hurt._

The Moonstone raised her sword, ready to end him, but as much as she wanted to, she couldn’t do it. After all, Varian _had_ been helping her this whole time, even if it was in a shady way. She couldn’t kill her only ally, even if he did betray her. And she needed help to get rid of Zhan Tiri.

Cassandra sighed and put her sword back behind her where it slowly meshed with her armor. Varian breathed in a sigh of relief.

“Cass, uh, you’re right. May-maybe I didn’t think everything through, but we need to-”

Cassandra cut him off, completely deadpan, not even bothering to look at him.

“Zhan Tiri is a bigger threat so we need to put aside our differences and work together.”

_Will she stop interrupting me already?_

“Y-yeah. But-”

Cassandra sharply glared at Varian, giving him goosebumps all over again.

“But listen, when we defeat this...demon, we’re done.”

Varian sighed and stopped trying to get a word in. He nodded curtly and Cassandra opened an entrance into the tower. She gestured for Varian to go first and then immediately stepped in front of him.

_So this is Cassandra being passive-aggressive._

Varian gulped and followed her inside.

_At least I’m not dead...yet, heh._

Cassandra closed the tear behind them and moved the platform up to the throne room. She didn’t warn Varian this time either, causing him to fall over on his knees when the platform began ascending.

_Okay, Cass. I get it. You’re mad at me._

Varian stood to his feet and hurried into his room to grab his backpack before Cass could say otherwise.He knew they wouldn’t be returning to the tower.

He ran back over to Cassandra who was still staring him down.

“Are you going to let me say anything now?”

Cassandra scoffed and rolled her eyes, but gestured for the boy to continue.

Varian let out a relieved sigh. He really hated it when he wasn’t allowed to talk. Especially because he had so many intelligent things to say.

“Thank you. Now, I don’t know much about Zhan Tiri, _but_ I do remember Demanitus writing about her in some books that I’ve read. I-I’m pretty sure they talked about a machine that can send her back to her own realm.”

Cassandra perked up at this and grabbed his backpack, rummaging through it and throwing his chemicals and alchemy balls everywhere.

Varian picked all of it up and snatched the bag back from Cass.

“Hey, hey! Don’t touch that! What are you doing?” Varian asked, annoyed.

Cass shrugged.

“I was just looking for the book you were talking about.”

The alchemist puts on his backpack while nervously rubbing the back of his neck, knowing Cass wasn’t going to like what he was going to say next.

“Heh...I-I don’t have it here. That’s where it gets tricky. It’s in my lab back in Corona.”

Cassandra threw up her hands angrily causing rocks to spike up all around them.

“We have to go all the way to _Corona_ to get one of your dumb science books?”

“A ‘dumb science book’ that could save the world, _actually._ ”

Cass rolled her eyes at the comment.

“How do you expect us to get in there? We can’t exactly just waltz through the front door. We’re _both_ wanted.”

Varian cringed at the reminder, but quickly worked out a plan in his head.

“Y-yes...which is why I’m going to break in. Tomorrow morning.”

Cass laughed at him cynically.

“You?”

“Uh...yes?” Varian replied, slightly offended. “I’ve already done it once before. Twice actually! Of course the first time I had _Rapunzel’s_ help, but I still got in unnoticed.”

Cass looks at him skeptically, slightly smirking at the memory.

“Yeah. Except for that trail of truth serum induced servants in the castle that pointed _directly_ to you.”

“Heh. Fun times,” The alchemist remarked with sarcastic jazz hands.

“As much as I _trust_ you, Varian,” Cassandra started, her tone portraying that she didn’t trust him at all. “I don’t think you can handle it by yourself. I’m coming with you.”

“Cass, I-uh, I don’t think that’s the best idea, heh! I mean unless…”

Varian suddenly brightened up and got an idea. A mischievous look found its way upon his face.

“That’s it!”

Cass sighed.

“You’re going to have to be more specific.”

“It’s just like the night I kidnapped the queen! Heh, which I regret every day, but it _is_ the perfect tactic!”

Cassandra sighed, tired of the boy’s stalling.

“Varian, what are you talking about?”

The alchemist rambled, excitedly.

“In order to draw security away from the castle, I used Ruddiger as a distraction. A really big, monstrous distraction, heh. Through all of the chaos, I was able to sneak in. _You_ can be the distraction!” 

Cass raised an eyebrow at Varian.

“Are you calling me monstrous?”

Varian backed up quickly, knowing Cassandra was even more emotionally unstable than normal.

“Wha-no! I-I mean the guards will be so invested in trying to stop you, that they won’t even notice me sneaking through the underground tunnels! It’s genius!”

The moonstone wielder had to admit it. Varian’s plan was pretty smart. And it had worked once before. It even worked on her. She was there.

Cassandra crossed her arms and sighed. “Fine. I’ll be your distraction.”

“Great! O-okay we’re going to need a lot of things in case this plan backfires. I find it’s vital to always have a plan B. I can make some-”

Varian cut himself off as his hair stripe started glowing again. He looked up at it and huffed frustratingly before wincing in pain.

“If that doesn’t stop soon I’m going to lose it,” Cassandra remarked, annoyed.

Varian falls to his knees again, trying to be sarcastic through the pain.

“Oh yeah...you must be in...so- _so_ much pain right now.”

Cassandra rolled her eyes but helped him up this time.

“Touche.”

Varian smiled through the throbbing of his ribs and stuck out his hand for Cass to shake.

“Temporary truce?”

“Temporary truce,” Cassandra replied, shaking his hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this...filler chapter, ha! Trust me, chapter 10 is going to be MUCHHHHH BETTER. The angst is coming friends!


	10. The Alchemist's Apogee

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well friends, we have arrived at the climax. Buckle up because this one is very long and very emotional. I hope you enjoy reading as much as I enjoyed writing it!!!

Back at the Dark Kingdom, the brotherhood continued looking for the spear far into the night. Hector had forgotten to tell them that there were a number of stones in the throne room, and he had no idea where he actually hid the weapon. After what felt like forever, Quirin lifted up the correct rock, revealing a small handle with a pointed black spear blade. Quirin grabbed the handle, pulling it out to its full size. 

The Waning Spear had been crafted by Hector twenty five years ago just in case the moonstone became lethal. Hector created the spear out of part of a black rock that had broken off from one of the moonstone’s many explosions in the hopes of using it to rid the Dark kingdom of the menacing opal once and for all. Unfortunately, he waited too long, and the king forced everyone to leave. Hector hid the spear, only telling the brotherhood of its whereabouts since he never got an opportunity to tell Edmund. The spear was forgotten for years by everyone except Quirin. He was there when Hector was making it, and he kept in the back of his mind ever since Varian had been born. Quirin knew he’d have to use it someday, but he never thought it would be this soon.

“I found it! I found the spear!” Quirin exclaimed as he held it in the air for the others to see.

Adira laughed relievingly and stopped searching.

“Took you long enough! No thanks to Rhino Man here-”

Quirin abruptly cut her off.

“Adira we don’t have time for arguments, we need to move  _ now.  _ Meaning Adira, you’ll have to ride with Hector.”

“No way am I riding all the way to Corona with  _ her _ ,” Hector pouted.

Quirin glared at him fiercely and Hector uncrossed his arms, obeying Quirin’s order.

“Cestus is over this way,” Hector told Adira, gesturing sarcastically down the stairs.

Adira’s eyebrow arched in confusion.

“Cestus? Who’s-”

“It’s the name of the rhino now let’s go!” Quirin shouted.

The brotherhood members ran out of the kingdom as fast as they possibly could. Quirin mounted Beaker and snapped the reins, while Hector and Adira clamored onto Cestus. The group rode out into the night, knowing full well that they would get to Corona far too late.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The princess stumbled into Eugene’s room to find him and Lance building some kind of weapon. She stopped at the door frame feeling extremely light-headed and blacked out.

Eugene immediately noticed her and got up from making Project Obsidian. He caught her before she fell to the ground, looking at her with a very concerned composure. 

Rapunzel looked pretty worse for wear. Her hair was singed from the explosion and her arms were covered in bruises. Her face was flushed from running and black soot marks lined a good portion of her complexion. The captain knew that something must have gone terribly wrong.

Lance got up as well and walked over to the two of them.

“Do you think she-”

Eugene cut him off quickly.

“Don’t worry, Lance. I know my girl,” Eugene replied distantly, almost reassuring himself. “She’ll make it.”

Almost on cue, Rapunzel’s eyes fluttered open, and she took a deep breath.

“Eu..gene…” Rapunzel voiced, weakly.

The captain relievingly laughed.

“Sunshine! You’re okay!” 

Rapunzel gave him a reassuring smile and then saw Lance as well.

“What are you two up to?”

“Oh. Well, when Eugene went to see Varian he gave him plans to build this...thing,” Lance spoke up.

“It’s supposed to be a specific kind of weapon to protect against Cassandra’s attack. We’ve been at it for hours but the kid really didn’t make it easy. I mean ‘fill the rocket tube with _ the _ compound?’ What in the world is that supposed to mean?”

Rapunzel coughed weakly while she tried to talk.

“I...think Varian means the amber. I’ve heard him refer to it that way-” 

Rapunzel coughed again while pointing to the vial.

Lance turned to Eugene and poked him, teasingly.

“Ha! I  _ told _ you!”

“Well, I’m  _ sorry. _ Varian’s inventions have the tendency to explode so you should understand why I didn’t want to use  _ that _ -”

Eugene pointed to a boiling yellow substance in a vial on the other side of the room. “...in this  _ extremely _ prone-to-exploding gun we’re making.”

Lance opened his mouth to argue but had to agree with Eugene. “You make a good point.”

Eugene gave Lance a nod, signaling that he wanted some alone time with Rapunzel, and laid the princess on his bed. Lance exited the room and closed the door behind him.

Once Rapunzel was settled, Eugene knelt beside the bed and cradled her face lovingly, taking on a concerned tone. “What happened?”

Rapunzel reached up to hold his hand and sighed deeply.

“Well…”

The princess tried to sit up in bed and told Eugene the entire story starting from her dream. As her story unfolded, Eugene’s expression became darker and darker. He got up from his place on the ground and started pacing before turning back to his girlfriend.

“You went to fight Cassandra without telling me?” Eugene asked, his tone sounding hurt.

Rapunzel didn’t say anything but just stared down shamefully.

Eugene began raising his voice, becoming more and more frustrated. “Rapunzel you could have died! You should have asked me to come!”

Rapunzel tried to sit up more, but she was still weak and sore from running all that way. She sank back down in the bed again.

“Eugene, you already got beat up by Varian and Cassandra the day before! I didn’t want to risk it!” The princess replied, her voice matching Eugene’s in volume.

The captain tried to calm her down and went back over to the bed, lowering his voice.

“Rapunzel, I care more about you than anything else. As your boyfriend  _ and _ the Captain of the Guard, I need you to tell me these things!”

Rapunzel noticed the desperation in Eugene’s voice and calmed herself down. The last thing the couple needed right now was an argument and she wasn’t about to start one.

“Eugene I’m...I’m sorry. I just felt like I needed to handle this by myself. I don’t want anyone else to get hurt because of this fight.”

The man sighed sadly and sat down on the side of the bed.

“Sunshine, I know that you like to take care of things yourself, but if you died because I wasn’t there to help...I would never be able to forgive myself.”

Rapunzel sat up straighter and hugged him, trying to reassure him.

“Hey, I’m here now. I’m going to be okay,” she told him, lovingly.

Eugene cradled her face again and Rapunzel leaned into the affection.

“I know Rapunzel. I just...worry about you.”

Rapunzel let out a little sigh and smiled compassionately at Eugene.

“If anything like this comes up again, I promise you’ll be the first one I tell, okay?”

Eugene held Rapunzel’s hand and massaged it tenderly, looking into her eyes.

“Okay.”

Eugene got up again, not completely convinced with Rapunzel’s story.

“But the other thing is why wouldn’t Varian say anything about what happened? I mean we talked at Cassandra’s tower the day before. He said some things about an attack but I had no idea it would be this soon.”

The princess slowly got off the bed too, trying to calm her worrying boyfriend.

“Maybe he didn’t know either. But you can’t really blame him.” She looked down, facing away from Eugene. “He’s doing everything he can without giving himself away…”

Eugene noticed that Rapunzel wasn’t talking to him anymore and seemed more distant. 

“Sunshine, did he...say something to you?”

The princess glanced up, slightly startled.

“What? No. I mean he said what he had to...I think.”

“Rapunzel...what did he say?”

She hesitated for a second. Rapunzel herself didn’t even know what to make of what Varian said. All she knew is that it  _ really  _ hurt remembering all of that tension and everything that they had both had done a year ago.

“He, uh, he just mentioned some things. It’s fine.”

Eugene could tell that Rapunzel was shaken up, but he didn’t want to cause her any more stress.

“Well...okay if you say so, Sunshine. I won’t pry if you don’t want me to.”

Rapunzel pushed a strand of hair behind her ear and smiled at Eugene. “Thank you.”

The princess coughed, moving Eugene to support her, leading her out of the room.

“You should probably get some rest, Sunshine.”

“Yeah. That’d probably be best,” she agreed, tiredly.

Eugene escorted Rapunzel up the stairs into her room and tucked her into bed.

“I’m just going to take a quick nap. Something tells me that we need to be prepared for a massive attack against Corona,” Rapunzel told him.

“Try to get some sleep, Sunshine. They’re both probably too tired to attack at midnight anyway,” Eugene replied, kissing her forehead.

“I really hope so,” Rapunzel yawned.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Varian woke up feeling more ready about today than anything before. He jumped out of bed and threw on his moonstone coat, putting his sword in its sheath and newly made alchemy balls on his belt. He didn’t sleep a wink, but it was pretty normal by now. He just couldn’t contain his anticipation. Today he could finally do something right for once. All of his other efforts had failed, and this was his chance to make it up to everyone in Corona. 

Varian walked out of his room with an unusual confident swagger, catching the attention of Cassandra when he walked into the throne room.

“Someone’s excited about the attack,” Cassandra mentioned, coldly.

“Heh, I-I wouldn’t say I’m _ excited _ …but it has been a while since I’ve been in Corona. E-even if I’m breaking in, heh.”

“Oh yeah. That will be a  _ great _ first impression for you!” Cass said, sarcastically, giving him an obviously fake smile.

Varian huffed and looked at her, really not in the mood for this today.

“Look, I know you’re mad at me but you don’t have to be mean.”

Cass laughed cynically.

“Ha! If you think  _ this _ is mean then your logic is flawed. At least I didn’t betray anyone’s trust.”

Now it was Varian’s turn to laugh.

“Yes, you  _ did!  _ You literally betrayed Rapunzel and pretty much everyone else too! That’s why we’re both here!”

Cassandra was taken aback by this. How could she be so hypocritical? Varian was definitely speaking the truth, he had done the same thing to her that she did to Rapunzel. And the worst part is? It hurt. A lot. She thought she finally found a real person to back her up on her decisions. She should have known it was too good to be true. It was just a well deserved taste of her own medicine. Cassandra didn’t want to admit any of this, though. Especially to Varian. So she just made up some excuse to get him to stop talking about it.

“You weren’t there. You don’t know what really happened,” she told him, deadpan.

Varian didn’t want to get into a huge argument, especially since he was supposed to be  _ working _ with Cass, so he decided to drop it this time.

“Let’s just...go over the plan, heh.”

“Best idea you’ve had all day,” she told him, with a sarcastic air.

“Thanks. So we’ll both meet up on the outskirts of Corona. From there we split and I’ll take the underground tunnels to my lab. While I’m doing that, you can run out to the palace courtyard and start attacking to your heart’s content, heh! Just...just make sure no one gets mortally wounded, heh.”

“Noted,” Cass told him, deadpan. “What about after you get your books and the parts for the machine?”

“Well if plan A goes as intended, we can run back to the fortress and I’ll build the machine. From there we can just find Zhan Tiri where we trapped her, and suck her into the portal!”

Cassandra raised an eyebrow. This was all sounding much too easy.

“And if plan A fails?”

Varian waved her away.

“Oh don’t worry. I have plans going all the way to F at least, heh.”

Cass gave him a pointed look. She wasn’t so sure about this.

“Varian…”

The alchemist sighed deeply and retrieved his notebook.

“Okay. Plan B is just in case  _ you _ get caught. Heh, I was up all night writing these. If you get caught, I can build the machine myself. It shouldn’t take long, heh. After that I’ll sneak back into the palace and break you out with my alchemical weapons. The rest plays out the same as Plan A, heh!”

“Okay...what if  _ both _ of us get caught?”

“Hey, don’t skip ahead! The next plan is for if _ I _ get caught. That would be plan C. Plan C only has about a .58% chance of coming into play. The underground tunnels aren’t usually guarded, and even if they were, all security would be focussed on you. But if it  _ did _ happen, we’d need a little inside help.”

“What do you mean? Why would they trust you anyway?” Cass questioned. She definitely wasn’t liking where this was going.

Varian rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

“Heh...w-well along with Rapunzel, Eugene also knows I was a double agent. And probably Lance and the girls too, heh.”

“Unbelievable! Was I really the only one who didn’t know?”

Varian coughed under his breath. “Technically it was supposed to be that way.”

“If I didn’t have a truce with you I’d beat you to the ground,” Cassandra told him, glaring.

“Heh! No-noted,” he told her nervously. “Anyway so if I  _ did _ get caught, it would most likely be a little later in the game. I’ll send out a colorful flare so that you know I was caught, and you’ll have to, uh-er, disarm all of the guards so that you can get the books and the parts from my lab. Just follow all the instructions exactly as they’re written and continue with the rest of Plan A. If Eugene can’t break me out...it-it would be nice if you could help, heh.”

“This is all fine and dandy, Varian. But you still haven’t told me what happens if we _ both  _ get caught,” Cass ordered.

“Fine. Plan D. Rapunzel and Eugene will probably know that we’ve been caught by now and-”

“Wait. Rapunzel is in Plan D?” Cassandra’s face darkened. “Skip to Plan E.”

“Seriously? You were the one who wanted to-”

Cass gave him a pointed glare and he flipped his notebook to the next page.

“Heh, o-okay…”

Varian bit down on his lip when he saw what he wrote.

“You won’t like Plan E.”

Cass was tired of Varian’s stalling and just snatched the notebook right out of Varian’s hands. He immediately grabbed for it, but Cass was already reading it out loud.

“Wha-hey!”

“Plan E: Force Cassandra to talk it out with Rapunzel and work together with everyone to defeat Zhan Tiri-”

Cassandra gives the notebook back to Varian and stares at him sharply, making the boy squirm under her glare.

“Varian, what is this?”

“I-I just figured that it might be easier to have some more help with containing Zhan Tiri. And Rapunzel can be very helpful especially with her Sundrop powers-”

“Varian. Stop lying. I know that you want me to make up with Rapunzel, but it’s not going to happen. She’ll never forgive me after everything I’ve done.”

The second part of Cassandra’s statement came tumbling out of her mouth and unfortunately she couldn’t eat her words.

Varian perked up at Cass’s confession.

_ Now, _ this  _ sounds familiar. _

“What do you mean?” Varian asked, tuning into Cassandra’s every word.

Cassandra didn’t want to tell the boy anything, but Varian was just so easy to talk to. She couldn’t help it.

“Why would she? I hurt her boyfriend, I attacked her  _ multiple _ times with the intention of  _ killing _ her, and to top it all off I sided with an ancient demon!”

Tears stung at Cass’ eyes when she realized her mistakes. How could she sink this low? How could she let Zhan Tiri, someone she didn’t even know, manipulate her into abandoning the person she had been protecting for years? She even claimed it was Cassandra’s  _ destiny _ to destroy Rapunzel. And Cassandra believed it. Every word.

Cassandra hugged herself and turned away from Varian, letting a single tear fall. Her voice sounded soft and broken.

“I  _ betrayed _ her. She’ll never trust me again.”

Varian approached her cautiously, meticulously choosing the right words.

“Cassandra that-that’s not true. I...I hurt Rapunzel too and she still found it in her heart to forgive me. She’ll do the same thing for you too, heh.”

Cassandra didn’t seem to believe him, so Varian gently put a hand on her shoulder. Cass flinched slightly at his touch, but Varian kept on in an attempt to comfort her.

“Cass, did you ever hear about the time that Rapunzel forgave me?”

The moonstone wielder turned around to face Varian, forming a blunt rock for them both to sit on.

“I guess we have some time before the attack,” Cass told him as she sat down.

Varian smiled slightly and followed suit, sincerely telling her his story.

“Heh. Well after I was thrown in jail, I joined up with the Saporians, as you may have heard. We, uh, we captured Rapunzel when she came back and planned on wiping the memories of everyone in Corona. Unfortunately my compound had some more detrimental properties, so they decided to destroy the kingdom instead. I refused to go through with it and betrayed them, but it backfired and they locked me up with the princess. I thought she would yell at me or reprimand me...but she  _ listened. _ She listened to my side of the story and I heard hers as well. We were both able to forgive each other for everything that happened, and she even saved my dad.”

Varian looked at Cassandra, trying to reach the vulnerable part of her through the armor.

“Cass, Rapunzel has so much compassion, and the only thing she wants right now is for you to come home.”

Cassandra listened to Varian’s story, wondering if he was lying about this as well. Rapunzel couldn’t forgive her. Cass wouldn’t believe that until the princess told Cassandra herself, but she wasn’t going to let that happen. It was simply too late.

“Varian, do you  _ honestly _ believe that she’ll join back with us after everything we did to her?”

Varian froze, his eyes widening. This was not how this conversation was supposed to go.

_ Cass is right. I broke my promise to keep Rapunzel safe. I already got my second chance. Why would she give me another one?  _

He shook his head and took a deep breath.

_ No. I-I can’t think like that. She’ll forgive me...I hope. _

After a while, he sighed dejectedly and looked down. “Okay. I-I won’t ask Rapunzel…”

Varian stood up and closed his notebook, putting it back in his bag.

“Well, we’ve gone through all the plans. We should probably go, heh.”

Cassandra stood up from the rock as well, lowering it into the ground. She stopped Varian as he started walking out of the room.

“Woah, slow down. What about Plan F?”

_ Oh... _ Plan F.

Varian hastily took his notebook out again and flipped to a page that said “Plan F: Project Obsidian Disaster.” He gulped and closed the book.

“Heh. Plan F  _ definitely _ won’t come into play,” he told her, confidently.

_ I hope… _

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cassandra and Varian snuck behind the Corona walls, crouching down so that the guards didn’t see them. This was abnormally hard since there were twice as many guards as any other day. Cassandra grimaced while looking out at the courtyard.

“Looks like Fitzherbert doubled security. Typical. You’re gonna have to be fast, kid,” she whispered to Varian.

“Heh, I-I’ll try,” he replied nervously. He was already under enough pressure as it was.

They waited for another few minutes, but Cassandra was growing impatient. Varian took the time to go over the plan again.

“So on my signal, you’ll slowly come out of our hiding place and get a safe distance so that no one will look back to where I am. Then just distract them and stall for as long as you can. Got it?”

“Yes, Varian. Just like the other five times you were telling me on the way here,” Cass replied annoyed.

Varian crossed his arms indignantly.

“Well I’m sorry, I’m just making sure we’re in agreement. This is a very risky plan and we could potentially be compromised.”

“We have a bigger chance of being spotted if we just keep sitting here,” Cass retorted. “I’m going now.”

“Cassandra wait-” Varian frantically whisper-yelled, but it was too late. Cass had already jumped up from her hiding spot and began destroying the courtyard with rocks. 

Varian rolled his eyes, grumbling.

“Or just go now, okay  _ sure _ .”

A guard immediately spotted Cass and ran after her, alerting everyone around him.

“Cassandra’s terrorizing the kingdom! Send backup!”

Five more guards arrived at the scene, and Varian continued waiting until all of them were focussed on Cassandra. 

When the coast seemed clear, he stood up and took a deep, calming breath.

_ Well...it’s now or never, heh _

The alchemist crept out of his hiding spot and quickly started running to the entrance of the underground tunnels, ignoring the pain that was seeping back in. He shook his head and kept going.

“Nope. I don’t have time for that, heh…”

Varian arrived at the entrance completely out of breath. It also didn’t help that his head was practically throbbing.

_ If yesterday is any indication, the pain will probably go down to my torso and then my hair will light up. I have to get through this before any of that happens. _

The alchemist moved the cover off of the entrance and jumped down onto the floor. Looking around at the familiar tunnels, he started getting flashbacks of the other times he was down here: stealing the flower and saving Corona. Those two times were complete opposites. One led him down the path of darkness, hatred, and anger, and one built up his reputation and helped him conquer his past. Now he was back. A criminal in the eyes of almost everyone but secretly trying to save his home. It was almost ironic the more he thought about it.

“Agh!”

A splitting pain in his chest silenced his thoughts, and he walked through the tunnels, hoping he remembered the way to his lab. He retrieved a portable torch from his bag and broke the top revealing a special kind of fire. He continued walking in silence. 

It hadn’t been this quiet the last two times he was here on account of the princess joining him. Rapunzel had aided in his redemption and his downfall, both stemming from their time in the caverns. Now it was just him. He was on his own, braving the tunnels to build the machine that could potentially save the entirety of Corona.

“No pressure, heh,” he laughed to himself.

Rapunzel’s words echoed in his head, “Varian, there’s nothing ordinary about you.”

_ Hopefully, I can believe that. After all, I’d have to be pretty extraordinary to actually accomplish my goal... _

The alchemist rounded a corner, being careful not to trigger any of the traps that were littered throughout the caverns. Ten minutes went by and Varian was starting to get impatient.

“I should probably go faster. It’s a long way to Old Corona…” he said out loud. 

He began picking up speed, not quite running but speed walking through the tunnels, hoping he could get to his lab on time. Eventually, even this was too slow for him, and he sped up again to a run, forgetting for a second about the booby traps. His foot stepped right on a button in the middle of the floor, causing the whole cavern to shake.

“Oh..oh no…” Varian panicked.

Three metal doors slammed shut, blocking the exit as the walls started to close in threatening to crush the boy. Varian looked around for an exit, and saw that they were all blocked. He frantically threw alchemy balls on either side of the walls to try and stop them, but eventually, the force of them broke clean through the sticky substance.

“Uh…”

Varian frantically looked around for some other kind of way out, when he remembered how Rapunzel had stopped the machine last time. The alchemist desperately rummaged around for something to jam into the gears. He tried with his torch, but it was too short and flimsy. Varian tossed the torch to the ground and started searching again when he remembered some vital information.

“Wait a second. My sword is virtually unbreakable! Finally, this feature of the rocks will actually  _ help _ me, heh!”

He retrieved the shadowblade from behind him and looked up again at the mechanism.

“Thi-this might be a stretch but I think I can-”

Varian stood up as far as he possibly could and threw the sword into the device, jamming the gears. The walls stopped abruptly, and Varian started searching for a way out. At his far-right, he noticed that one of the doors that slammed shut in front of him had some properties that could be dissolved. He grabbed another alchemy ball from his belt, but just as he started to throw it, he heard a grating scraping noise. He turned around to see the shadowblade wobbling in between the gears. In one fell swoop, it flew out of its spot and came hurtling straight for Varian’s head, blade first. 

The alchemist didn’t have time to react and stood there completely helpless as the sword readied itself to end him. 

Out of nowhere, a long, golden braid of hair snatched the deadly weapon in mid-air, saving Varian from being decapitated. Rapunzel grasped the sword and sent her hair down one more time to get Varian, propelling him up to the rafters with her.

“Princess?! How-”

“Varian, use one of your alchemy balls to dissolve that door. Pascal, go behind the gears to find the release,” Rapunzel ordered, not even skipping a beat.

She lowered Varian down and he threw his alchemy ball as hard as he could. The exit enveloped in smoke and instantly dissolved. At the same time, the release mechanism clicked and the walls stopped moving for good. The princess let out a sigh of relief and jumped down from the crossbeams.

Varian began walking over to her when he saw Ruddiger curled around her shoulders. His pace instantly picked up to a run.

“Ruddiger!” Varian exclaimed, ecstatically.

The raccoon jumped onto Varian, making him lose his balance and fall to the ground. Varian hugged his pet and placed him on his shoulder.

“It-it’s really you! Buddy, I’ve missed you so much!”

Ruddiger happily chittered in response, calmly patting Varian’s cheek. The alchemist pet Ruddiger again, and turned back to the princess.

“Rapunzel how-how did you know I was down here?”

The princess shrugged nonchalantly.

“I saw all of the commotion outside and I realized you weren’t with Cassandra. I figured you must be sneaking around somewhere else, and the underground tunnels seem to be a popular location for you,” Rapunzel told him as they exited through the door.

“You caught on  _ that _ quick, huh?”

Varian sighed and held his hands out.

“Are-are you going to arrest me or something?”

Rapunzel stopped in her tracks, looking at Varian very surprised.

“What? No, no, no. Varian whatever you’re doing...I’m sure it’s for the right reasons.”

“Oh, heh! Thank-thank you for saying that…”

“But I do have to ask, what  _ are _ you doing?” The princess questioned.

Varian rubbed the back of his neck nervously as they continued walking.

“Heh! Well…After the battle, we found out that this mysterious floating girl who was hanging around Cass is actually the ancient demon Zhan Tiri, and she had just been freed from limbo, unfortunately. So Cassandra and I ran back to her fortress. She knows about my betrayal now as well, heh. I-I’m pretty sure she might kill me when this is over. Anyway, that’s why we formed a plan to destroy Zhan Tiri once and for all using a portal made by Lord Demanitus, which I still have to build, heh. So that’s why Cassandra is out there terrorizing the courtyard, she’s distracting the guards so I can sneak in and get the materials I need.”

Rapunzel arched an eyebrow in confusion.

“Wait...Zhan Tiri? How did Cass even end up with her in the first place?” Rapunzel questioned.

“I have no idea, heh. All I know is I have to get to Old Corona and fast.”

Varian started to turn away, but Rapunzel grabbed his arm.

“Not alone you’re not. I’m coming with you,” she told him purposefully.

“R-really? But Rapunzel you’re the Sundrop. It-it’s too dangerous,” Varian explained.

“As princess, it is my duty to protect my kingdom  _ and  _ my subjects. This falls under  _ both  _ of those categories. Don’t think I didn’t hear that part about Cassandra wanting to  _ kill  _ you. There’s  _ no way _ I’m going to let that happen. Besides, I  _ did _ just survive a full-on magic battle. I’ll be just fine,” Rapunzel claimed.

“Heh! I-I guess I can’t argue with that,” he told her, happy that he was finally back on the right side.

The two walked quickly through the tunnels in silence for a while before Varian spoke up again. His was tone softer and more serious than before.

“Rapunzel I just...I’m so sorry about what happened. It got  _ really  _ out of hand, heh.” 

The princess stopped walking again and turned to face him, her expression also turning serious.

“Varian, what you said-”

He cut her off promptly.

“I-I know. It was hurtful to-to both of us and I shouldn’t have let it get that real.”

“It _ was _ hurtful. Varian, I thought we forgave each other for everything that happened,” the princess replied, still clearly stung by his words. 

“We did! I-I guess I just got a little too much into character…”

Varian’s expression grew heavy, and his shoulders slumped down. A tear started to form in his eye and rolled down his cheek. Rapunzel put her hands on his shoulders, noticing how cold the armor was to touch. She shivered briefly, but still stayed there, comforting Varian.

“For the record, _ I _ forgive you, Varian. I understand that your feelings can come back in the heat of the moment, and though that doesn’t make it right, I know you didn’t mean it.”

Varian still looked dejected, so Rapunzel went on.

“You’ve changed a lot, and sacrificing your own  _ sanity _ to protect me proves that.”

The alchemist wiped the tears from his face and looked up at the princess, his eyes shining. 

_ That was everything I needed to hear. _

“Thank-thank you, Rapunzel,” he told her, quietly.

She smiled at him genuinely and pulled him into a hug, which he gladly returned. Somehow Rapunzel’s hug was so warm, that it hindered the chill of the armor while he was in her embrace. Ruddiger joined in as well, curling around the two of them.

As Varian broke away from the hug, his headache became unbearable again. He winced in pain and collapsed in Rapunzel’s arms. Ruddiger jumped off of him, chittering worriedly. As expected, the alchemist’s hair stripe began to glow once more.

“N-not again, agh! Why...n-now…?” Varian voiced frustratingly through the pain.

Rapunzel backed up, stunned.

“This has happened before?” 

Varian tried to stand up but fell to his knees.

“Y-yeah. Once or twice,  _ agh!” _

Rapunzel knelt down beside him, noticing his glowing hair.

“Your hair! Is that-” Rapunzel started, pointing out the stripe.

“Oh yeah...that-that’s nothing it’s fine.”

Before Rapunzel could argue, the ground began to rumble again, and a black rock sprouted out of the ground right next to Varian. He jumped off of the ground and swerved out of the way of the rock.

“What the-”

More rocks followed until they were surrounded.

“What-what do we do- _ agh! _ ” 

Rapunzel jumped up with him and grabbed his arm, dragging him along with her.

“I’m gonna go with,  _ run! _ ”

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The brotherhood had been on the road all day, not stopping once. Somehow they were already halfway to Corona. Everyone was tired, but they knew they had to get to the kingdom as fast as they could.

Suddenly out of nowhere, rocks began chasing them from behind. None of the former knights questioned it; they were used to experiencing the rocks popping up wherever they pleased. They simply sped up as fast as they could to get away from them. As Quirin flicked the reins again, he noticed that his brotherhood symbol was glowing, this time not stopping. He looked over to see Adira and Hector also staring at their hands. He knew they were all experiencing the same thing: a warning from the moonstone.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rapunzel and Varian ran as hard and fast as they could to get away from the rocks, each step inflicting more pain on Varian. Rocks spiked up from the ground in front of them and began closing in behind them, even spiking down from the ceiling. 

“Varian watch out!” Rapunzel screamed as one of the rocks jammed down next to his head.

The alchemist jumped out of the way just in time, as the rock pierced his goggles, sending them flying off his head. Varian almost stumbled as his pain traveled down to his legs.

“Ra-Rapunzel- _ agh! _ My lab should be coming up soon. I-I just need to climb up there- _ agh! _ And-and grab everything I n-need-”

Varian’s breath became shaky and he felt like he was going to pass out, but he kept on running.

As they continued through the tunnels, Varian’s hair stripe started glowing brighter and brighter, until other streaks of his hair followed along. Rapunzel kept running along behind him, all the while recognizing the reaction of the rocks as the same to her hair. As they cut around a corner, one of the black rocks pinned Rapunzel’s hair to the ground, immediately stopping her in her tracks.

Rapunzel winced in pain and tried to free her hair. Ruddiger saw her struggling and started pulling her hair off the rock until the last strand came loose. Ruddiger climbed onto her shoulder and Rapunzel sprinted as fast as she possibly could until she finally caught up with Varian. 

As the boy started climbing up the ladder leading to the opening of his lab, the rocks surrounded him on either side, ripping through his moonstone coat. In a panic, Varian threw his coat to the ground and climbed into his lab.

Rapunzel and Ruddiger followed close behind. The princess hurled herself onto the floor in Varian’s lab and Ruddiger scurried ahead, trying to reach him. Varian hastily looked for the books and parts he needed, throwing around everything in the room. Unfortunately, the rocks weren’t stopping, and they jutted out from underneath and all over the walls of the lab. Rapunzel ran out the door, Ruddiger following close behind, gesturing for Varian to follow her.

“Varian we have to go!” Rapunzel yelled at him, frantically.

“But what about the portal?!” Varian called back as he winced in pain again.

“There’s no time! You’ll be  _ killed  _ if you stay in there!”

The rocks got closer and closer to Varian, pushing him out of the lab.

“I- _ gah!”  _

All of Varian’s hair was shining blue now, his streak more prominent now in a bright white shade. His heart felt like it was pumping out of his chest and every second he felt closer to passing out. The rocks were still on his tail, and they chased him as he ran out of Old Corona. Rapunzel followed, but a rock pinned her hair again, this time against a tree. She couldn’t break free and cried out to Varian as the trail followed him.

“You’ve got this, Varian! Just keep going!”

Ruddiger was running with Varian, but the boy could tell that his raccoon was fading fast. 

Varian stopped for a second and crouched down to his pet’s level.

“Buddy, I-I need you to stay with Rapunzel. I-I’ll be okay.”

Ruddiger nodded solemnly and ran back in the other direction. The alchemist watched his best friend leave as he followed Rapunzel’s instructions. He ran completely out into the open, sprinting across Old Corona to the capitol. Two guards who were patrolling the area spotted him and started chasing him along with the rocks.

Varian’s entire body felt like it was on fire as he neared the Corona bridge, the guards shouting at him to stop somehow making his headache worse. Varian screamed in agony as the veins on his body lit up a bright blue, the only visible ones being his neck and face because of the armor. Through the agony, the alchemist kept on running, tears streaming down his face and his breath becoming so short it might as well not been there at all. The rocks wouldn’t let him rest as he fled, and even the guards had to stop to catch their breath. But Varian couldn’t stop.

_ I physically can’t stop. _

As the boy arrived at the courtyard, he was no longer in control of his body. The moonstone controlled his every movement as he ran to where Cassandra was in the middle of battle.

The moonstone wielder paused in crushing a guard with her rocks when she saw Varian running toward her. She gave him a quizzical and very concerned look as she saw the desperation in his eyes and all of his glowing features. She glimpsed the guards who were chasing him, and instantaneously trapped them in black rocks.

“Varian,  _ what’s going on? _ ”

She looked down and noticed the moonstone violently giving off sparks. Cass immediately felt pulled to grab Varian’s hand, and he reached for hers at the same time. They both glanced at each other in terror as they started rising into the sky.

Rapunzel and Ruddiger arrived at the scene just in time to find Varian and Cass levitating. The princess ran over to where Eugene was standing, and he put an arm around her, protecting her from whatever was going to happen next. Rapunzel wanted to cry out, but she was speechless. She had no idea what was going on.

The brotherhood arrived at the same time as Rapunzel, having traveled for two straight days without stopping. Quirin ran out to the scene, spear in hand. But just as he had figured, they were too late.

Varian and Cass began to rise higher, blue electrical waves of moonstone magic surrounding them as they soared. The black rocks started moving up and down, some lowering and some new ones sprouting. The two Moonstones shared one more worried glance as a bright flash enveloped them. Varian let out a blood-curdling scream as the moonstone drained the magic within him, taking with it his very essence. 

After hearing the boy’s scream, Eugene had had enough. He picked up Project Obsidian, aiming straight for Cassandra. Before he could shoot, however, a black rock spiked up and hit him in the side, redirecting his blast as he fired. The amber hit Varian directly, the force of it causing him to plummet down lower. The orange curls began wrapping him as he reached up for the moonstone, the magic still flowing out of him. Varian took one last breath and shut his eyes as the amber consumed his head. 

“ _ NO!”  _ Eugene yelled, angrily throwing the bazooka to the ground and smashing it with his foot. Ruddiger jumped down from the princess’ shoulder and ran out to where Varian was struck, pawing at the statue.

Cassandra stared at the sight in shock, the color draining from her face as she lowered to the ground. She turned around to see the horrified faces littered throughout the courtyard.

Quirin fell to his knees and covered his head in shame, the rest of the brotherhood looking down sorrowfully, the symbols on their hands slowly dimming out. On the other side of the courtyard, Angry and Catalina cried profusely into Lance’s shirt. The man tried to be strong, but there were still tears on his face.

Cassandra’s eyes finally flittered over to Rapunzel, the princess’ eyes filled to the brim with tears. Eugene was trying to comfort her but looked just as distraught as she did. 

They were all looking at the same terrible sight. Varian the Alchemist, frozen in his own creation. His hair reverted back to black, and no longer possessed its blue stripe. The glow dimmed on his moonstone armor and his veins went back to being unnoticeable. He looked so lifeless, so weak. Only a shadow of the brave boy who joined Cassandra to save the kingdom he loved. Varian was stuck in an outstretched position, his head looking up to the sky and his right arm seeming to be reaching up for just a sliver of one last hope, but there was none.

He was suspended in motion, not moving, not breathing; encased in the lies he had created.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha! You see what I did there? Cause he's literally encased-  
> (Okay I'll see myself out)


	11. The Mark of the Moonstone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long for this chapter to come out! (Especially after that last chapter) But I'm hoping that my next updates will be more consistent! I just wanted to say a quick thank you to everyone who's supported this fic. I honestly never thought I would get this far and you guys have been so encouraging! (I also really enjoyed all of the screaming comments in the last chapter haha)  
> So without further adieu, let's get back into the angst!

The deadly amber cast an ominous shadow over the group, and everyone became eerily silent. It had all happened so fast. Rapunzel’s gaze lingered on Varian then fiercely looked at the Moonstone. The princess’s face contorted into anger, but the tear stains still remained on her face.

“Cassandra, what did you  _ do? _ ”

Cass collapsed to the ground, overwhelmed by the new power that the moonstone had gained. The rocks around her immediately crumbled, mirroring her depressed state and freeing the guards who promptly surrounded her. Cass didn’t fight back as the guards seized her, cuffed her hands, and ushered her away. Her eyes stayed pointed to the ground as her head hung in shame.

_ She killed Varian.  _ She never wanted it to go this far. And now that it had, it was only right that she paid for her crime. It was the justice that needed to be served. 

Eugene held Rapunzel tenderly, trying to comfort her, but she couldn’t restrain herself. She pushed past him, running to the statue. 

“I’m bringing him back,” she stated, her voice weak but determined.

Rapunzel started wrapping her hair around the statue when she felt a firm hand on her shoulder. She turned around to see Varian’s father, Quirin, clothed in armor from the brotherhood.

“I beg your pardon, your highness, but that won’t do much good. You see...my son…” His words got choked up, and he cleared his throat, trying to force out the rest of his sentence. “My son was drained by the moonstone. The Decay Incantation used to rescue me from the amber won’t revive him,” Quirin finished.

The princess backed up and let her hair fall from the statue.

“Drained him? What do you mean?” She asked in a small voice.

Quirin sighed sadly and looked up at his son, Varian’s pained face haunting him.

“There’s something about my son that I’ve never told anyone before.”

He glanced up at the statue again, gripping the spear tightly in his fist.

“Not even Varian knew about his past.”

Quirin looked down at the symbol on his hand and turned to the princess and Eugene. Everyone else had left in the commotion after Cassandra’s arrest, and the three of them plus the brotherhood were the only ones who remained. With a sigh, he began telling the story that had never left his mouth.

“Long ago, before everyone was banished from the Dark Kingdom, King Edmund sought to destroy the moonstone. The brotherhood did everything in our power to talk him out of it. We had thoroughly studied Demanitus’ research, and we knew the consequences of meddling with the moonstone. We tried to restrain him and pleaded with him not to make any rash decisions, but Edmund was determined to rid the kingdom of the opal. As we all expected, his attempt was futile, and the moonstone sent out a massive explosion, killing some and injuring many.”

“Way to go, dad,” Eugene mentioned sadly under his breath.

Quirin continued, ignoring Eugene’s comment. “I was closest to the stone when the blast was sent out, and a burst of its energy hit me straight in the chest. I wasn’t physically wounded, but I knew that a wave of that magnitude from the moonstone wouldn’t leave me unscathed. I delved into researching the effects of the moonstone again, and I may have even stolen some scrolls.”

Hector cut him off. “Ah, so  _ that’s _ where the missing piece of the Demanitus scroll went!” He remarked, crossing his arms indignantly.

Adira elbowed him, making him grunt.

“Even  _ I _ knew that, Rhino Man,” she whispered. “Now show some respect. Quirin’s telling a story about his probably dead son.”

Rapunzel cut in.

“Uh, well, we don’t know that he’s dead for sure…” she trailed off, knowing that she was just trying to find some fake positive in a completely unfavorable situation.

Hector looked up at Varian’s pale face, a shiver running down his spine.

“I don’t know. He looks pretty dead to me-”

“That’s  _ enough _ ,” Eugene reprimanded, backing up when Hector growled at him. “Sure, the kid  _ might _ be...dead. But we’ve seen time and again that magic has the power to bring people back to life. I’m speaking from experience here.” 

He looked over to Rapunzel and held her hand reassuringly. 

“So, there might still be a chance for Varian.”

Rapunzel gave him a shaky smile and gestured for Quirin to continue.

“I admire your hope, Captain, but it isn’t that simple. After the explosion, as you know, the king banished everyone, sending the brotherhood out to prevent people from finding the moonstone. I took the scrolls with me just in case I needed them, but as the years went on, I didn’t realize any change in myself. When my travels led me to Old Corona, I decided to settle down with my wife, Ulla-”

“And betray the brotherhood,” Hector mentioned under his breath. 

Adira elbowed him hard in the stomach again, and Hector took a step away from her.

“ _ Thank you, _ ” he mentioned to Adira, getting more frustrated that no one was listening to him. “Anyway, when we had Varian, I immediately noticed something peculiar; the blue stripe in his hair. I consulted the scrolls again and remembered that someone affected by the moonstone would have some kind of blue mark on their person. I wasn’t completely sure how the magic had transferred to Varian, and I wasn’t fully convinced that it had at all. I continued to brush the feeling aside, hoping it was just some kind of genetic mutation. But when I tried to cut off the stripe to conceal it, I found that it was unbreakable.”

Rapunzel gasped.

“Just like my hair when I touched the rocks…”

“Exactly, your highness,” Quirin confirmed. “I was hoping that the stripe would stay faded, but as Varian got older, it only became more prominent. And by extension, he became more curious about its existence. I knew he wasn’t ready to learn about the moonstone, so I lied to him and told him it was an alchemy accident that occurred when he was young. However, I had a feeling my excuse didn’t convince him, and I found him frequently experimenting on the stripe. I had no choice but to discourage this because I wasn’t quite sure what would happen if it continued. And as you all know, my son’s experiments can be dangerous. As the years went on, I continued to cover up my time in the Dark Kingdom. I hid all of my armor and scrolls in a chest and concealed it for years. Eventually, Varian stopped asking about the stripe and simply accepted it as his natural hair color. I was relieved, and I hoped that he never had to deal with any kind of moonstone magic again...”

Quirin looked down solemnly.

“But then the black rocks returned. I knew that they were searching for the Sundrop, but they were also searching for the missing part of the moonstone, Varian. I was desperate to keep my son away from them, and it wasn’t just because they were physically dangerous.”

He huffed dejectedly.

“You see, one of the biggest aspects of the moonstone is its drive to destroy. Like I said, I have no clue how it left me unscathed, the opal is very unpredictable, but since the magic now resides in Varian-” Quirin looked up at the statue again and grimaced. “Or it  _ did  _ reside in him, the more contact he had with anything produced by the stone would only make the connection stronger. And if his connection grew stronger, it could potentially kill him from the force. That’s the biggest reason I asked for more land. I needed Varian to be as far away as possible from the black rocks. Unfortunately, my son became far too involved in the matter, and I was...unable to help.”

Quirin closed his eyes, vividly remembering the night that everything had changed for him and especially Varian. He opened them again, reluctantly going on with his story.

“I wrote a letter to him, detailing everything, but I couldn’t get it to him in time. Maybe if I had, our situation would have been  _ much _ different. After I was freed, the letter was destroyed. I  _ planned _ on telling him everything, but I never found the right time. He had just been through so much since my encasement, and I didn’t want to add to it all. Though now looking back...it might have saved his life.”

His gaze returned to Varian for a moment, but he knew he needed to finish the end of his story.

“When I found out that Cassandra had the moonstone, I was desperate to keep Varian away from her. When he got kidnapped, however, it was completely out of my control. I ventured to the Dark Kingdom to find the Waning Spear, the only thing that could sever his connection to the moonstone.”

His tone lowered, and he was beginning to break.

“But as I thought, it was too late. Because Varian was surrounded by the black rocks, black rock armor, and the moonstone itself, the opal was slowly draining him. It normally starts with small things. One of them being he wouldn’t be able to be harmed severely by the stone since he was apart of it. In a sense, the rocks wouldn’t be able to hurt him. On the small chance that they did, the pain wouldn’t last long. This would probably be the only positive effect, though. Even though the manifestations of the moonstone couldn’t harm him, the dwindling power in him could. It isn’t noticeable at first, just small headaches and such, but eventually the power surfaces, manifesting itself inside of him so that it can be easily put back into the moonstone.”

“That would explain the glowing hair and his pains in the underground tunnels,” Rapunzel voiced, trying to put all the pieces together.

Eugene cut in again.

“But if it only took the moonstone power from him, wouldn’t he still be alive?” The captain asked.

Quirin tried to answer, but he couldn’t get the words out. Varian was too young to die. He had his whole life ahead of him, and it didn’t deserve to be cut short because of Quirin’s past. He held his head in his hands and shut his eyes tightly. 

Adira noticed how shaken Quirin had become, so she put a hand on his shoulder, trying to give him some kind of comfort.

“Don’t worry, Stickler. I’ve got the rest of this,” she told him. 

Adira turned to Eugene and sighed deeply. She didn’t like delivering bad news either.

“Well, Fishskin, the minute that Varian became connected to the moonstone, it’s power interlocked with his...life. You can’t separate one from the other,” she told him sadly.

Rapunzel looked over to Adira, a pleading look in her eyes.

“Please. Is there any way I can save him?”

“You can’t, Princess,” Adira replied. She redirected her sights to the jail, Rapunzel following her gaze.

“But Short Hair can. If she’s willing.”

Rapunzel wasn’t sure if Cassandra wanted to help Varian, but she knew there was still good in her former best friend. After all, she could have escaped when the guards captured her, but for some reason, she let them take her.

The princess started walking over to the jail, but Eugene stood in front of her.

“Rapunzel...are you sure it’s the best idea to talk to Cass?”

She huffed sadly, keeping her eyes in the direction of the dungeon.

“I don’t know. But I have to try.”

It was finally time to make amends with her sister.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cassandra hung her head as the guards led her into the drafty jail. Walking past the cells, she could see the various criminals she had helped catch over the years. In all honesty, Cass was surprised that they had stayed locked up since Corona didn’t have the best record of keeping criminals behind bars. A little further down, she could see Andrew and the Saporians adorned with...colorful bubbles?

“Probably Varian’s doing,” she voiced under her breath.

The guard continued leading her down the corridor until they reached the end, a single chilling cell waiting for her. The guard creaked open the door and slammed it shut as soon as Cass walked in. She stood in the corner, hugged herself tightly, and wept. She cried for Varian and everything he had gone through because of her. She cried because she had nothing left. Sure she could break out, but there was no way she could build Varian’s machine by herself even if she wanted to. She  _ failed. _ She had no destiny, no future, and no way out. Cassandra slowly slid down the wall dejectedly and pulled her knees up to her chest. She might as well get used to this place since she was planning on being there for the long haul. Or as long as it took until Zhan Tiri destroyed Corona.

Rapunzel walked into the dungeon swiftly, looking for any signs of black rock damage. As she continued down the corridor and didn’t see any sign of the rocks, her hopes started plummeting.

“Did she escape before they brought her down here?” Rapunzel wondered out loud.

She reached the end of the row of cells and almost exited out the door when she saw a curled-up figure with signature blue hair.

“No. She didn’t.” Cass said, low and muffled from her head tucked into her knees.

Rapunzel stayed and stooped down to Cass’ level from outside the bars.

“Cass? Why didn’t you-”

Cassandra looked up at the princess, her eyes bloodshot from crying. She cut her off, thinking Rapunzel was going to reprimand her about what happened to Varian.

“It’s all my fault. I messed up. There’s nothing for me anymore,” she voiced quietly.

Rapunzel blinked in surprise. She had never heard Cass sound so hopeless. So...broken. It was a high contrast to all the recent encounters they’d had. Cassandra’s usually confident demeanor was replaced with timid numbness, and her skin looked deathly pale. The moonstone seemed to almost mirror her emotions. Her armor and hair were dimmed, and the opal on her chest flickered as she cried. 

Rapunzel reached out to her through the bars, her expression starting to grow dim as well.

“Cass...I’m sorry. I know you didn’t mean to...kill Varian. Quirin told us everything. It was all the moonstone.”

Cassandra glanced down at the flickering stone on her chest and cringed.

“And who’s wearing it, Raps?” Cassandra asked, sorrowfully. She rubbed her finger against the stone, like she always did to calm herself, but this time was out of malice.

“I thought this was going to be my  _ destiny,” _ she laughed hollowly. “But all it’s done is taken away everything I-”

She cut herself off before she could say “loved.” How could Rapunzel love her anymore after what she did? She turned away from Rapunzel, the tears falling full force again.

The princess sighed deeply and retrieved a key that Eugene gave her. She unlocked the cell and walked in, knowing full well that Cassandra wouldn’t hurt her.

“Cass, I…”

Rapunzel trailed off and sat next to Cassandra, placing a hand on her shoulder.

“I just want you to know, even after everything that’s happened, I still love you.”

Cass’s head slowly raised up to look at Rapunzel. Her face was ridden with confusion, and her voice was shaking.

“But  _ how? _ After everything I’ve done? To you and Eugene, the entire kingdom of Corona, and-and Varian…?”

Rapunzel took a deep breath and looked at Cassandra sincerely.

“Because I know that’s not who you are. I know you can  _ change. _ You were misled, Cass, and all I wanted to do, since the minute you took the moonstone, was bring you home.” Rapunzel’s voice broke as she finally saw a glimmer of the Cass she remembered for the first time in a year.

“But Raps-”

Rapunzel didn’t wait for Cassandra to finish and immediately pulled her into a hug. Cassandra was surprised but gently wrapped her arms around her best friend. 

_ “I’m so sorry, Rapunzel,”  _ she whispered.

Rapunzel started crying and hugged Cassandra harder. Her best friend was finally home. The princess gave her one last squeeze as she let go. 

For the first time in what felt like a lifetime, the corners of Cassandra’s mouth raised into a sincere, genuine smile, her eyes shining with new hope. Varian was right. Rapunzel still had room in her heart to forgive her. 

Rapunzel stood up and helped Cassandra to her feet as well. They hugged one more time before Rapunzel remembered her mission.

“I also came down here to tell you...there’s a way that we can save Varian,” the princess mentioned, slowly.

“There _ is?” _ Cassandra asked frantically, practically running out of the jail cell. 

Rapunzel tried to catch up, holding out a hand for her to stop.

“Cass, wait! I don’t know what it is yet! Quirin just mentioned it to me when we-”

“I’ll do whatever it takes to save him, Rapunzel,” Cass told her, cutting her off. “And whatever that is, we have to act fast. Zhan Tiri is still on our trail, and I’m not sure how long my cage is going to hold her,” she stated briefly.

Rapunzel and Cass flew through the castle, running as fast as they could to the scene.

“Who knew touching a bunch of black rocks would lead to an ancient demon with a vendetta against our kingdom?” Rapunzel joked, trying to lighten the mood.

Cass laughed, “Go figure!”

When they arrived back at the scene, nothing had changed. Quirin and the brotherhood were still standing solemnly, fixated on the amber encased boy. Eugene was standing with them, worriedly waiting for Rapunzel to return. As the blonde-haired princess emerged from the door, Eugene ran to her and embraced her. He could tell by her joyful eyes that she had made up with Cassandra.

Cass stood in the doorway sheepishly, the moonstone still flickering on her chest. Eugene nodded to her in acknowledgment, and Cass slightly smiled back. Hopefully, there would be a better time for them to talk in the future. 

She walked carefully down the stairs, trying her best not to seem like a threat. Her eyes stayed peeled on the statue as she made her way to Varian’s father.

“Please...is there anything I can do to help?” Cassandra pleaded.

Quirin sighed dismally, but his eyes seemed to light with a sliver of hope.

“It’s risky, Short Hair,” Adira cut in.

“I don’t care. This is my mess, and now I need to clean it up,” Cassandra told her firmly. She turned back to Quirin, with a newfound determination. “I need to know.”

Quirin nodded and reiterated the legend he had read.

“It has been said,” he began cautiously, “that if the moonstone gives up some of its power willingly, it might be enough to save him.”

“How do I do it?” Cass asked quickly.

“The Healing incantation. Since the Sundrop can wield the Decay incantation, theoretically, the moonstone can heal. If the princess says the Decay incantation, and Cassandra says the Healing incantation, it would be enough to free my son.”

Hector cut in abruptly.

“But there’s no  _ guarantee _ that it could actually save Varian. It’s just an old legend.”

Rapunzel stepped in front of him, not letting his negativity bring her down.

“An ‘old legend’ saved my kingdom from a deadly storm. Zhan Tiri was an ‘old legend,’ and now she’s a real threat. The point is, we have to  _ try. _ ”

The princess began to make her way to the front of the statue when Quirin cut in again.

“But princess, since Cassandra is connected to the moonstone…”

He trailed off, not wanting to deliver another death sentence.

“There’s no guarantee that she’ll make it out alive either,” Adira finished.

Rapunzel suddenly felt disoriented as her expression devolved into shock. Her eyes grew wide, and her face paled significantly as she drew in a sharp breath.

_ “What?” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes...another cliffhanger.  
> I'm evil I'm sorry-


	12. The Alchemist Returns

An ominous, azure-haired girl wandered down the flight of stairs leading to Demanitus’ abandoned chamber. The destruction left by Varian’s kidnapping was still present. Various vials and compounds were strewn upon the floor, and the original Demanitus Device lay in shambles. The only thing that truly stuck out in the chamber was the long, spiked projection of amber left behind from the red rocks. Zhan Tiri glanced at it and chuckled coldly. 

“Felled by his very own invention,” she echoed, referring to Varian.

She finished her descent and stood menacingly over the chasm where the device once stood.

“Much like yourself, my  _ dear _ Demanitus.”

She retrieved a broken gear next to her foot and threw it into the hole, causing the debris to sink down even further with a satisfying thud. She took on a sickeningly sweet tone, mocking her deceased rival.

“Oh, you didn’t know it at the time, but making me your enemy was your  _ worst decision yet… _ ”

Zhan Tiri’s hair, dress, and eyes began glowing a bright blue before flickering out.

“In only a matter of moments, your precious Corona will be nothing but  _ ashes.” _

She breathed in deeply as the power surged through her once more.

Her tone turned dark as she paraded around the room, kicking around gears and empty vials as she went.

“You thought you vanquished me all those years ago at the Dark Kingdom. The moonstone was withing our grasp, we were so close to wielding it, you and I. We would have made the greatest team, uncovering the magic of the celestial elements…”

She stopped and glared at what was left of the device, remembering that fateful day.

“But you had other things in mind, didn’t you? You only wanted to  _ observe _ the moonstone and the sundrop. You wanted to _ inform _ people about the mysteries and legends they had heard instead of demonstrating it for them. You were too scared, too  _ weak _ to utilize the power within them.”

She drifted over to the wall, finding one of Varian’s discarded vials. Zhan Tiri shook it slightly, and let it bubble in her hand.

“When I decided that I was brave enough to do it, you shut me down. You claimed I would use them for selfish reasons...and of course, you were right. But after all we had been through together, it  _ hurt _ to know that you would think so  _ low _ of me.”

The compound continued rising, the pressure causing the cork at the top to fly across the room.

“And you know what’s next:  _ you betrayed me.” _

The solution bubbled over and Zhan Tiri threw it at the broken table with a crash. The explosion illuminated her disturbing shadow for a moment, the monster behind her looking nothing like the girl standing there.

“We had a disagreement resulting in your reckless decision to trap me in that forsaken moonstone. You deprived me of even a  _ glimpse _ of the mystical sundrop. It might have seemed as if you had won, dear Demanitus, but as always you underestimated my  _ power. _ I was waiting for the perfect time to accomplish what I had come to do, and in the meantime, I was able to bend the moonstone to my every whim. Apparently the stone can even control the  _ weather  _ under the right management,”

She chuckled to herself, remembering the devastating blizzards she had caused. The most recent one even had a hand in Varian’s villainy, which caused more desolation to the kingdom. Everyone played straight into her hands right from the beginning, which was exactly the way she had planned it. The energy surged through her again, getting brighter and brighter with every breath she took.

“I made multiple attempts to weaken the moonstone, affecting that young alchemist in one of my blasts. Nothing was working...until the rocks activated. The minute that the precious Sundrop touched them, I knew it was my chance.”

The ground beneath the demon began to rumble, making a few unbroken vials and beakers clatter to the floor.

“By leading her to the moonstone, it became weaker and weaker, eventually freeing me...but only in a mere ghost form. Lucky for me, miss  _ Cassandra _ came along, vulnerable as ever.” 

Cass’s name practically rolled off her tongue as the ground shook more violently.

“Through the assistance of my former disciple, Tromus, I was able to persuade her to take the moonstone. After that, it was just a matter of luring the sundrop and the boy. Since Cassandra was so willing to have her ‘destiny’ she obeyed every order I gave her. She was just as easy to manipulate as the moonstone itself! We had a slight...mishap with the incantations, but it was quickly fixed on account of the Sundrop’s naivety.”

She let out a chilling chuckle as the moonstone waves surged through her again.

“The clash of sun and moon finally cracked the moonstone and freed me from my prison. After that, it was just a waiting game until the moonstone reached its full capacity. The moonstone power was already surfacing in the boy, and with a few loose threats, I was able to ensure that he’d stay as long as I needed him. He even worked well as a cover while I was convincing the Sundrop. He had some real potential...it’s such a pity that he had to die so young.”

She chuckled, the chilling sound echoing off the walls as the electric blue waves emanating off of her became stronger.

“Ah, yes.  _ The time has finally arrived. _ ”

Zhan Tiri’s form began shifting, as long, dark tentacles curled out from under her. The uncontrollable appendages swerved around the room. They cracked through the limestone walls of the chamber, destroying everything in their path. Zhan Tiri’s face morphed into a twisted kind of goat, with huge jagged horns, black as the rocks surrounding her. Her eyes narrowed and glowed a sharp blue. 

She let out a long maniacal laugh and burst out of the chamber, basically massacring the place where Demanitus and Varian once worked. She headed straight for Corona, destroying every rock and tree in her path. She was finally going to fulfill her promise to Demanitus that she made all those years ago. Corona was never going to be the same again.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rapunzel took another step back as the words that Adira had just said swam through her head. 

“Cass...Cass could  _ die?” _

Rapunzel couldn’t lose Cassandra. Not this soon. And what if they  _ didn’t  _ save Varian? This was  _ too _ risky. She couldn’t let Cass do it.

Cassandra took another look at Varian’s pained face. He didn’t deserve this. He was still so  _ young.  _

“Raps, listen-”

The princess quickly cut her off.

“No Cass! I-I can’t let you do this! We just got you back, I can’t lose you now…” The princess trailed off.

Cassandra walked over to Rapunzel and hugged her tightly, causing them both to cry.

“This isn’t fair, Raps. Varian still has his whole life ahead of him. He still has time to make up for his mistakes. And I…”

She took a deep breath and backed away from the hug.

“Rapunzel, I ruined my life the moment I took that moonstone. I tried for an entire year to prove that I was more than everyone thought, but I didn’t even know what that meant. I just resorted to taking out my anger on you and everyone in Corona.”

She gazed around the courtyard, seeing all of the destruction she had caused. Black rocks plagued every corner of the space, surrounding them and seeming to close in. They jutted out from the castle, destroying the perfectly built walls. Cassandra’s eyes flickered over to her tower in the distance, and then back to the amber statue in front of them.

“Raps, there’s nothing for me anymore.”

“Cassandra, no. That’s not true-”

Cass cut her off with a sad smile. She had to do this.

“But it  _ is, _ Raps. So if there’s a chance that I can do something  _ right _ for once, even if it means sacrificing myself...I want to take it.”

Cassandra’s tone was firm but still shaky as more tears formed in her eyes. She had made up her mind. She was going to save Varian, or die trying.

Rapunzel grabbed both of Cassandra’s hands, pleading with her to reconsider. Why couldn’t both of her friends survive?

“But Cass-”

Cassandra put her hands on the princess’ shoulders firmly, looking at Rapunzel’s pained face.

“Rapunzel...you know how you always want what’s best for people? Well...this is what’s best for me.”

She looked the princess dead in the eye with a small nod.

“I  _ need  _ to save him, Raps,”

Rapunzel bit down on her lip, trying to stifle her sobs, which of course didn’t work. She pulled Cassandra into another hug, squeezing her tightly. She didn’t want to lose Cass, but if she wanted to right a wrong, Rapunzel couldn’t stop her.

“I love you, Cass,” she whispered.

“I love you too, Raps.”

She smiled at the princess, her eyes alight with hope.

“I’ll be okay.”

The two broke away from the hug and stood next to each other in front of the statue. Everyone else backed up to give them space.

Rapunzel wiped her tears and began wrapping her hair around the amber. Cassandra stretched out a hand to Rapunzel and she took it, holding it tightly. They didn’t say anything as they both reached out to touch the amber.

Rapunzel looked at Cass, her emerald eyes shining. She didn’t want to lose her.

Cassandra glanced at Rapunzel at the same time with an assured smile beneath her piercing blue eyes. She was finally doing something right.

They simultaneously took a breath in and began reciting the incantations. The words intertwined and overlapped much like at Gothel’s cottage, except instead of fighting and tearing each other down, they were working together to save a life.

_ “Flower gleam and glow,” _ Cassandra began.

_ “Wither and decay,” _ Rapunzel followed.

_ “Let your power shine…” _

_ “End this destiny…” _

Rapunzel’s eyes and hair turned pitch black and electric blue waves of moonstone magic flowed through the amber.

_ “Make the clock reverse…” _

_ “Break these earthly chains...” _

_ “Bring back what once was mine…” _

_ “And set the spirit free…” _

The amber began melting, uncovering the limp boy encased inside. Rapunzel stood there, still in her trance as Eugene ran over to snap her out of it.

Cassandra stepped closer to Varian as the amber lowered him to the floor and continued the song. Her eyes turned a blinding white, and every word of her song seemed to speak life into Varian.

_ “Heal what has been hurt.” _

Cass’s melodic voice rang through air and Varian began to stir. Some color started to return to the alchemist’s cheeks as the moonstone essence flowed back into him.

_ “Change the fate’s design.” _

The Moonstone’s voice became weaker as the opal on her chest dimmed. Her knees buckled and she gasped for breath, but she continued. 

_ “Save what has been lost…” _

Varian started breathing steadily and a wave of moonstone magic hit his chest, bringing back his hair stripe. Cassandra clutched her chest as her hair reverted back to the original ebony.

_ “Bring back what once was mine…” _

Varian’s eyes fluttered slightly and he took a deep gasp in. 

Eugene finally woke up Rapunzel, who collapsed in his arms. Her hair fell down from the statue and Eugene helped her over to Varian and Cassandra. 

Cass forced out the last line of the song, her voice barely above a whisper.

_ “What once was...m-mine-” _

Varian sat up warily, and his big blue eyes scanned the perimeter. He began taking everything in; the melted amber surrounding him, the concerned faces gazing at him. He held out a hand in front of his face, realizing he was still in the moonstone armor, and everything came flooding back. He was alive...but how?

“How long was I out? Heh,” he joked.

To his right, he saw Cassandra. Her moonstone armor had dimmed out and her hair was back to normal. She looked incredibly weak...but she was still alive.

Rapunzel wasted no time wrapping them both in a hug. Quirin ran over to Varian and hugged him as well.

“Dad!” Varian exclaimed happily. He hadn’t seen Quirin in what felt like a lifetime. It was so comforting to see his daddy again. “I’m so sorry about everything that you most likely heard, heh…”

Quirin looked at his son tenderly. He was so proud of what Varian had overcome, and all he had done in sacrifice for Corona and his family. 

“It’s okay, son. I’m just glad you’re safe.”

Varian beamed at his dad, but he was still very confused.

_ What happened? And...why? _

He tried to cast those thoughts away and take in the moment. Tears of joy ran down Varian’s cheeks as he absorbed all of the affection. Ruddiger curled around his shoulders and nuzzled up under the boy’s head. After Quirin let go, Eugene took a turn hugging Varian as well.

“Don’t ever do that again, kid. You had us all worried,” The captain told him fondly.

“Yeah I-I don’t really  _ want  _ to do that again, heh.”

The alchemist looked behind him at the amber with a shudder. Such cruel, cruel, irony.

Eugene noticed his mood shift and tried to cheer him up.

“But hey! Now you can be apart of the ‘I died and was revived by magic’ club!” He said, elbowing Varian.

Varian laughed slightly at this, still not knowing entirely what it meant. Before he had time to ask any questions, he was cut off by an earth-shaking, bellowing laugh.

Zhan Tiri emerged from behind them, almost as tall as the castle itself. Her figure cast a huge shadow over the group, practically shrouding them in darkness. The monster looked around at all the terrified faces and let out another blood-curdling laugh.

“Well this has been quite  _ touching, _ but I’m afraid I have a kingdom to destroy.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> He's baaaaaaack! See? I told y'all I wouldn't kill him forever!


	13. The End of it All

Everyone sharply turned their heads around and gazed in horror at the shadowy giant looming over them.

“Is that…?” Cassandra started.

“Zhan Tiri,” Varian confirmed, slowly standing up. 

“Ah, so the young alchemist has heard of me. I’m  _ touched. _ ” Zhan Tiri vocalized slowly, sending chills down Varian’s spine with every word.

He narrowed his eyes and stood up straighter, looking around for a weapon or something that he could use. Zhan Tiri laughed when she realized how helpless he was. Her tone lowered significantly and she bent down closer to Varian.

“You’re supposed to be dead, boy. You still have something that belongs to  _ me. _ ”

One of Zhan Tiri’s tentacles gently flicked up Varian’s stripe in his hair, causing him to shrink back.

Rapunzel immediately jumped in front of him, protectively blocking him with her hair. Eugene stepped on the other side of Varian and drew his sword.

“We will _ never  _ let that happen,” she stated boldly, glaring at the monster.

Zhan Tiri chuckled as her voice boomed over Rapunzel.

“You and what army,  _ princess?”  _

The brotherhood stepped out from the sidelines and grouped in front of the three of them. Their teeth were rared and they were ready to fight one last time as a means of justice for their destroyed kingdom. Quirin turned around briefly and gripped the Waning Spear in one hand as he drew out his sword in the other.

“Ah, the brotherhood of the Dark Kingdom. What’s a few retired warriors going to have against the full power of the moonstone?” The demon mocked, sprouting up a few black rocks to prove her point.

“We’re not  _ all _ retired...” Hector voiced under his breath.

Quirin and Adira looked at him in disbelief. “Shut up, Hector,” they told him in unison.

Zhan Tiri rolled her eyes and stuck out her claws menacingly.

“ _ Enough. _ Retired or not, I’ll humor you with a short fight before I destroy your precious kingdom, and all your hopes with it.”

Now it was Adira’s turn to roll her eyes. These bigshot villains were always  _ so _ dramatic.

She jumped up as high as she could and swung at Zhan Tiri with the full force of her foot, slamming down on one of her tentacles. Zhan Tiri whipped her head around and growled aggressively. She violently flailed her tentacles, knocking Adira away from her. The warrior landed behind the melted amber statue with a thump, knocking her out.

Lance rounded the corner after being sent to retrieve Varian’s alchemy. He carried a miscellaneous jumble of beakers and solutions in his arms, but nearly dropped it all when he saw the sight.

“Varian! You’re ali- whoa, what is  _ that?” _

Lance stopped in his tracks and stared at Zhan Tiri towering overhead.

“Lance...not  _ now!”  _ Eugene whisper-yelled. The commotion caught the monster’s attention, and she whirled her head back around. Lance tried as carefully as he could to set everything down but eventually ended up dropping most of it, shattering a couple vials. Varian eyed the alchemy enviously, cringing as he saw his supplies break, but he didn’t dare move. 

_ I have to figure out how to get over there... _

Lance saw Adira out of the corner of his eye as he scrambled away, narrowly avoiding Zhan Tiri’s tentacles. He ducked behind the half melted amber statue, luckily protected from the monster’s attacks. He crawled over to where Adira laid and his face paled when he saw she wasn’t moving.

“Adira! No, no,  _ no! _ Please wake up!” He begged, cradling her face in his hand.

Adira’s eyes shot open and she delivered a swift punch to Lance’s face.

“You’re okay!” Lance said as he rubbed his injured face.

“Yes...I’m fine, Lance.”

Her hand moved down to a sword in a sheath at her waist. She handed the blade to Lance with a tired smile.

“Adira, I don’t know what to say…” Lance told her, starting to get emotional over the “gift.”

Adira rolled her eyes again; Lance was such a softy.

“Don’t  _ say _ anything, just go fight!” she told him encouragingly.

“Oh! Right!” Lance replied, gripping the hilt of the sword tightly.

He cleared his throat as he stood up and performed a dramatic bow.

“Anything for you, my lady-”

Adira cut him off, getting kind of annoyed.

“Just  _ go!” _

Lance performed another quick bow and ran over next to Cass.

Zhan Tiri let out a long yawn, tired of waiting around.

“Are we quite finished?” she mocked, facing Quirin and Hector.

“Not yet,” Hector growled.

The younger brotherhood member let loose his retractable sword, and mounted his rhino. He charged into Zhan Tiri with a loud roar, but the monster was faster. With a maniacal laugh, she brought up her hand and formed a huge blockade of black rocks. Hector and his rhino rammed into it, causing Hector to fly into the castle wall. Hector winced in pain as he hit the ground, breathing heavily.

“Oh how the mighty have fallen…” the monster pronounced, rubbing her claws together as she smirked sadistically at Quirin.

Varian’s father clenched the spear in his hand, aiming it straight at Zhan Tiri. The monster zeroed in on the weapon and realized what it was. “The Waning spear…”

She let out a monstrous roar and violently pushed the man, knocking the spear out of his hand.

“ _ DAD!”  _ Varian screamed, his eyes widening in horror. Rapunzel held him back, but she looked just as horrified as Quirin was swept off his feet and landed on the ground. The spear that he held, landed on the other side of the courtyard, in close proximity to Cassandra who was waiting in the background.

The brotherhood members all laid battered and bruised on the ground, but their fighting spirit still remained. 

Eugene took one look at Varian’s distraught face and knew it was time for him to step up.

“That’s it,” the captain said under his breath. He turned to Rapunzel with a determined glint in his eye. “Blondie...I’m going in.”

“So am I!” Cassandra called from behind him.

Eugene whistled to Max who came galloping over. He mounted his horse and drew his sword, pointing it high in the air. Cassandra was still pretty weak from the amber incident, but she wouldn’t let that stop her. She also drew her shadowblade and stood next to Eugene, directly in front of the monster.

Zhan Tiri laughed again, but she was becoming bored of the same routine.

“The fallen moonstone wielder _ and _ the Captain of the Guard! Please, Corona. Is this really the  _ best  _ you can do?”

“I’m coming too!” Lance called, only making Zhan Tiri laugh more.

The three looked at each other and a loud “Charge!” rang through the air, shouted by Eugene. They ran on either side of her, Eugene acting as a distraction while Lance and Cass crept up behind. 

“And to think  _ I _ was worried about aging! I have to say, the term ‘age gracefully’ does not apply to you, ma’am. At least  _ I _ still have my roguish charm!” The captain taunted.

Cass staged her attack, sending her sword soaring into the monster’s back. Zhan Tiri winced in pain and sent out a stream of black rocks. One struck Cass in the arm and she reeled back, clutching the wounded area. Another rock caused Max to buck Eugene off and he landed close to Cass. Lance got hit by another one of Zhan Tiri’s tentacles and was sent flying into the same area. 

Zhan Tiri sighed and rubbed her claws together once more.

“Now, if we won’t have anymore  _ distractions,  _ I can proceed with my-”

A holler rang out and Edmund arrived on his horse. He took a leap at Zhan Tiri who wasn’t paying attention. He stabbed one of her tentacles causing her to roar in agony. She quickly hit him away with one of her claws. He landed by a cluster of black rocks, and was pulled behind them by Eugene.

“Welcome to the club, dad!” the captain said, trying to lighten the mood.

“Can it, Fitzherbert,” Cass butt in, keeping her voice low. “We have to think of a plan to defeat that thing.”

“Did I miss something? Weren’t we fighting her earlier?” Edmund asked, extremely confused.

“Don’t worry, dad. I’ll fill you in later. But as much as it pains me to say it, and it absolutely does, Cassandra is...right. We need a plan.”

Lance got up with a groan and immediately spotted the Waning Spear jammed into the ground across the courtyard. Its tip still glowed with blue light and it was just asking to be picked up.

“What about that?” Lance asked, pointing at the spear.

Cass shrugged and started inching over to it.

“It’s a start.”

While this conversation was going on, Zhan Tiri was growing more and more impatient. “You have  _ got _ to be joking. Are there any more  _ surprises _ waiting?”

Zhan Tiri waited for a beat but there were no more attackers. 

_ “Splendid. _ Now I can  _ finally  _ proceed with my plan…” She uttered with a sharp chuckle.

Her tentacles squelched across the ground as she made a bee-line for Rapunzel.

The princess’ eyes narrowed in determination, and she grabbed Varian’s hand tightly in a vigilant manner. The motion caused the sundrop powers within her to ignite, startling her as the golden waves of power flowed through her hair. Varian suddenly gasped and Rapunzel looked over to see his hairstripe glowing as well.

“Varian? Does it hurt?” Rapunzel whispered.

Varian sucked in a sharp breath and waited for a beat, but fortunately the pain didn't come. He breathed in a sigh of relief. “N-no...I’m okay. But-but what’s happening?”

Zhan Tiri’s mouth curled into a small smile when she noticed the luminescence emanating off of the two.

“The combined powers of the sundrop and moonstone…” the monster breathed.

Varian and Rapunzel glanced at each other with a nod and stood side by side, gripping on tighter. A huge ray of electric blue and yellow energy hit Zhan Tiri head on. She repelled back, but then seemed to consume the energy that had hit her. 

“Uh...wrong-wrong move?” Varian voiced nervously.

Rapunzel saw how unsettlingly glad Zhan Tiri was and immediately let go of Varian’s hand. The boy’s stripe stopped glowing, but Rapunzel’s hair continued, becoming even brighter. Varian stepped back in awe and watched as Rapunzel expertly wielded her hair. She wrapped it around the monster and pulled it tight.

“This won’t work for long  _ princess _ …” The demon taunted. 

Rapunzel grunted and grimaced as she pulled her hair tighter around Zhan Tiri. Eventually, it was as taut as it could go and she held out her hand to summon all of her power and blast the monster. The energy flowed through her...but the reaction caused a completely different response. Instead of disabling Zhan Tiri with the Sundrop power, she seemed to consume it, becoming even stronger. Rapunzel’s hair started flying off of the monster, gradually fading to brunette. She grabbed her chest and gasped for breath as the long lengths of brown hair fell around her.

“Rapunzel!” Varian called, reaching out to the princess. The Sundrop collapsed on the ground, spurring Varian to rush over to her.

Zhan Tiri closed her eyes and indulged in the new power that was just given to her. When she opened them she had one blue eye and one yellow one, mirroring the sundrop and moonstone’s appearances.

“Oh she’ll be  _ fine,  _ young alchemist.” Zhan Tiri voiced in a condescending tone. “She just lost her Sundrop powers. She’ll still be destroyed with the rest of the kingdom once I take care of one last roadblock…”

She closed in on Varian, lifting him off the ground with one of her tentacles. She narrowed her eyes at the boy, sadistically smirking at his resistance. 

_ “You.” _

Varian’s face paled and he struggled fiercely in her grip, but to no avail. The thought of giving up crossed his mind before he felt something more than adrenaline coursing through his veins. His stripe crackled to life with moonstone power, and in one fell swoop, black rocks shot out from Varian’s hands, piercing the tentacle surrounding him. He dropped to the ground but landed firmly, glancing at his hands that were blazing with electricity from the stone.

“Woah… How did I-”

Zhan Tiri roared violently and grabbed for Varian but he blocked her with another rock, striking her in the arm. Cassandra saw the commotion out of the corner of her eye while she was running to get the spear.

“Guess those combat lessons paid off, huh Varian?” Cass called to him.

The boy looked over to her with a relieved laugh when he was hit in the side with a yellow colored rock.

“O-ow…”

He fell on the ground and rolled away from another one of Zhan Tiri’s attacks, spiking up a few more black rocks on the way down. After a moment, his stripe stopped glowing and reverted back to its normal color as the excess moon power he had gained ran out.

Cassandra plucked the spear from the ground, helped Rapunzel up and grabbed Varian’s hand. She brought them behind a cluster of black rocks where everyone else is waiting, along with Varian’s alchemy. When he saw his supplies, he practically sprinted out of Cassandra’s grip. The alchemist in him could finally come to life.

“Oh, it-it’s been  _ way _ too long since I’ve been able to use my equipment, heh!”

Cass looked down guiltily at this comment before clutching the dimmed moonstone on her chest. It was merely a gray stone now and hardly any power was left, but it was the only thing keeping Cassandra alive.

Zhan Tiri recklessly tormented the courtyard with golden rocks, narrowly missing the group.

“You can’t hide forever, _ Varian!”  _ Zhan Tiri boomed as she continued massacring the kingdom.

The alchemist hastily began constructing anything he could out of the miscellaneous mess of equipment that Lance brought. The only thing that seemed of use were two small vials of Flynnoleum. He kept his voice down as he relayed his plan to the group.

“Flynnoleum by itself is powerful, but I-I don’t think it’s strong enough to defeat, well,  _ that…” _

Varian pointed to Zhan Tiri angrily tearing apart the castle with her bare hands...or rather claws

Eugene ducked as a piece of the castle flew over his head. He turned back to Varian and Cass.

“Wow. And I thought  _ you two _ had issues,” he remarked.

Varian snorted and rolled his eyes, but Cass was still understandably closed off.

“Eugene!” The princess reprimanded.

“Sorry, sorry. Not the time,” he apologized.

The brotherhood had slowly gravitated to the group during the commotion, though they were still physically incapable to fight. Quirin immediately spotted the spear in Cassandra’s hand.

“Son…”

He took it from Cass’ hand and gave it to Varian.

“Use the spear.”

Varian eyed the spear suspiciously.

“Isn’t it, you know, too small to-”

“No, he’s right.” Hector voiced weakly. “I designed the spear to cut off connection with the moonstone. It would disable her powers,”

“O- _ Oh _ ! Y-yeah that could work, heh!” Varian replied, starting to line up all of his equipment. “I could attach the spear to the Flynnoleum, and it should launch right into Zhan Tiri if I got a straight shot, heh.” 

Rapunzel glanced at the contraption and then back at the monster.

“You said that the spear would cut off her powers but...is there anyway we could destroy her...completely?”

Everyone’s heads turned to Rapunzel in surprise.

“Wow, Raps. I didn’t know you had that in you,” Cassandra voiced with a short laugh.

Rapunzel's determined face didn’t waver. She was willing to do whatever it took to protect her kingdom.

“Well, she’s threatened Corona for far too long and she hurt you especially, Cass. We need to take her head on.”

Varian nodded in agreement.

“The princess is right, heh. We need a stronger plan to take her down for  _ real.” _

Quirin hadn’t taken his eyes off of the dim moonstone on Cass’ chest the entire time. It was their last chance.

“Demanitus trapped Zhan Tiri in the moonstone eons ago…”

Varian knew exactly where his dad was going with this and immediately joined in.

“We could tie the moonstone to the spear and the opposing reactions would trap Zhan Tiri in the stone. Then the spear would destroy it from within, ridding us of Zhan Tiri for good!”

“Is that safe? For...Cass?” Rapunzel asked with a worried glance to the stone.

Without a second thought Cassandra ripped the stone from her chest as her knees buckled from under her.

“It’s...okay, Rapunzel.” She told her with a tired smile.

The princess hugged her again, but knew she had to focus on the task at hand. If she believed Cass would be okay...that just might be enough.

Varian gingerly took up the materials and laid them out beside each other. The ground rattled underneath them with every move that Zhan Tiri made, but the alchemist persevered.

“If we attach the moonstone here with the Flynnoleum at the back…” He muttered to himself. “But... I don’t have anything to secure it with.”

Rapunzel ran her hands through her hair and picked up a jagged piece of a black rock on the ground. She sliced through her locks resulting in the short brunette style she had when Eugene cut it the first time. She held out the long length of hair to Varian.

“Will this work?”

Varian took the strands from Rapunzel, looking a bit uncomfortable holding her seventy feet of dead hair.

“Heh...yeah. This-this will work.” 

He started putting all of the pieces together and securing them with the hair, cutting off a portion of it with another rock.

“This is by far the  _ weirdest _ invention I have ever made, heh,” he voiced under his breath.

The moonstone glowed slightly as it was placed on the spear and tied together. He attached the Flynnoleum at the base and took a deep breath as he stood up with his new invention.

“It’s finished, heh.”

Rapunzel, Eugene and Cassandra looked to Varian and carefully stood up. Rapunzel supported Cass every step of the way as they headed out from their hiding place.

They all held hands as they drew nearer to the monster. Varian’s heart beat faster with every step he took and his knuckles turned white as he gripped the contraption.

“This is it, kid,” Eugene told him, putting a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

“Are you ready?” Rapunzel asked.

Varian took another deep breath and furrowed his brows in determination.

_ “As I’ll ever be.” _

Varian took a step forward and yelled as loud as he possibly could. He shook up the Flynnoleum and attached it to the spear.

“Hey Zhan Tiri!”

The monster whipped around and in a fit of anger lunged at Varian, giving him a perfect shot at her chest.

_ “CATCH!” _

Varian hurled the spear at the demon, and it hit its target directly. The group stood back as far as they could and ducked down as a great explosion of white light encapsulated the courtyard. With a loud scream, Zhan Tiri was sucked completely into the stone as the spear pierced it, shattering it into a million pieces. Black rocks began crumbling all around them, their remnants getting sucked into the blast. 

As the last of the black rocks disappeared, Varian stood up and looked around. 

_ Is...is it really over? _

All of his hard work had actually paid off. The kingdom looked utterly destroyed...but they did it. They finally vanquished Zhan Tiri. 

He glanced around at everyone’s relieved faces, even Cassandra wore a tired smile though she had no energy left. Varian looked her in the eye with a joking tone.

“Look like we went with Plan E, heh.”

Cassandra embraced him in a hug and everyone joined in. It had been a long journey, and there had been multiple setbacks, but somehow through all of this, Varian’s far-fetched plan had actually worked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What a ride it's been! This actually isn't the last chapter, I still have an epilogue but wow. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I never thought I'd make it this far. I hope you've been enjoying the story! Thank you again for reading!


	14. Epilogue: Uncovering Truth

The war was over but the stress hadn’t quite left. Almost instantaneously after the threat of Zhan Tiri had been quelled, Cassandra passed out. She understandably looked like death, so Rapunzel immediately took her to the healing wing. Eugene raced over to the Snuggly Duckling where everyone was hiding out, and brought the doctor to treat Cass. Unfortunately when they got there, Cass wouldn’t wake up. The doctor prescribed it as a coma, and declared it was undetermined when she would awaken.

Varian and Rapunzel weren’t going to let her die, not like this, so they started taking action. They both recognized that her life was tied to the moonstone, just like Varian’s, and only support from the opal would save her. Since the only remaining essence of the moonstone dwelled in the alchemist, he decided he was up for the task. It took him at least a day to brainstorm how he would go about doing it when a silver glint in the corner of his lab caught his eye. From there, everything fell into place.

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The whirring noise of the Elemental Remogrifier hummed in the background as Varian stirred together an electric blue-colored serum. He turned down the flame under his distillation apparatus and gave the solution one last stir. As he took the stirring stick out, the solution began to bubble and glow, threatening to explode. Varian quickly pulled down his goggles and set the beaker down on the table.

“No, not now.  _ Please _ not now…” The alchemist muttered under his breath. Cassandra’s life was literally in his hands. This  _ couldn’t  _ blow up in his face.

The compound bubbled for a little longer before finally settling down, keeping a smooth consistency. Varian breathed a sigh of relief and picked up the solution again. He cautiously carried it over to the Elemental Remogrifier, making sure that he didn’t trip or drop it. He didn’t have any time to go through that whole process again. Varian set the solution back on the ground near his invention and picked up his fifty-pound bag of sand. He began pouring it into the crater of the machine when Rapunzel practically broke down his lab door.

“Varian! Is-is it finished?” She asked, frantically. 

The boy jumped, startled at Rapunzel’s intrusion, but he still kept a steady hand on the sand. He poured the last of it into the machine and rushed over to welcome Rapunzel in.

The princess’ tone lowered and grew more despondent. “We don’t have much time…”

Varian swallowed thickly, and his breathing quickened.

_ What if this doesn’t work? What if we can’t save her? _

“What if this was all for nothing?” Varian voiced under his breath. He didn’t realize he said the last part out loud, causing Rapunzel to give him a reassuring side hug, startling the boy a bit.

“Hey...it’s going to be okay, Varian. I wouldn't have trusted you with this if I didn’t think you could do it.”

Varian smiled up at her and he blushed partially out of embarrassment, but also out of pride.

“Thank-thanks, Rapunzel, heh.”

He wandered back over to the Remogrifier and started turning the wheel slowly, adding only half of the particle compression than normal.

“And to answer your question, it’s almost done, heh.”

He held up the moonstone compound that he had just made and brought out a dropper from his pocket.

“I just have to add my newly crafted moonstone solution and we should have a product mirroring the Cassandrium I made awhile back, heh. Or as I like to call it ‘Moonstonium,’ heh.”

He dipped the dropper into the beaker and filled it to the top, while Rapunzel nervously paced around the room.

“Well, uh, we should probably get started, heh.” Varian voiced, signaling to Rapunzel that it was time.

The princess stood back and watched as Varian piped in his solution, instantly turning the sand bright blue. He turned the wheel a few more times, then let the machine do the rest. The cylinder stopped revolving after a moment, and Varian shakily reached into the crevice.

“Here it goes, heh.”

He brought out a small, bright blue, rock-like element and brushed the excess sand off of it, rubbing it till it shined.

“Behold...Moonstonium,” Varian voiced dramatically, holding up the stone.

Rapunzel marvelled at the element, looking almost like a rough replica of the moonstone.

“Varian, you’re a genius!” Rapunzel praised. “So, how does it work?”

Varian talked well examining the element for any imperfections, turning it over in his hand.

“Heh...well it-it should be able to function as a sort of life support for Cass, giving her back the energy that the moonstone stole from her. I extracted the moonstone’s essence and concentrated it into a serum mixed with a few other base chemicals, and fired up the Elemental Remogrifier to give the serum a vessel, heh.”

Rapunzel cocked her head in confusion.

“You extracted the essence? But how? I mean, the moonstone was destroyed.”

The alchemist rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

“Heh, uh, Well…”

He set the stone on a table near him and pulled off one of his gloves revealing a small bandage around his index finger.

“I thought about it for...a long time, heh. But I realized the only way for the solution to properly activate the serum was with..”

He trails off for a second and puts his glove back on with a sigh.

“With a few drops of my bl-blood, heh. It wasn’t much. Just a small pinprick, but I  _ may _ have been passed out for an hour and Ruddiger  _ might  _ have had to wake me up, but it-it’s okay, heh.”

Rapunzel glanced down at his hand and then looked at the Moonstonium. Varian had changed a lot since she first met him. She could see now that he was willing to give anything for his friends, even purposely facing his irrational fear of blood.

“Wow...Varian. That must have been pretty hard for you.” Rapunzel told him sincerely.

The alchemist’s cheeks flushed again and he wrapped an arm around himself.

“Oh, it-it was no big deal, heh.”

The princess smiled sweetly at him and put a hand on his shoulder to calm him.

“Well, thank you. It really means a lot, and I’m sure Cass will think the same.”

_ “If she wakes up,”  _ Varian thought.

The alchemist masked his doubt with a smile and picked up the stone gingerly, placing it carefully into one of the pockets on his belt.

“It’s no problem, princess, heh. And thanks again for the new clothes. They’re a lot better than that moonstone suit, as cool as that looked, heh!”

The alchemist now stood proudly in an outfit that was nearly identical to his old one, except for the fact that he now wore a turquoise vest instead of the maroon one he previously sported.

“Oh, of course Varian! I have to say, that shade of blue looks very nice on you.”

Varian smiled briefly and started walking out the door.

“Heh, thanks. So, uh, should we get going?” 

Rapunzel reluctantly nodded and headed out with Varian. 

The ride to the capitol was practically silent. Both Rapunzel and Varian were scared about what was to come, Varian more so than Rapunzel. The princess really did trust the alchemist, and she was confident that his solution would work, but Varian was a smidge more tentative. _ Everything _ was riding on his invention and in the past...well he hadn’t had the best experience with those odds. 

As the wagon came to a halt, the two shared a worried glance and walked into the Healing Wing. Eugene, Lance, and Cassandra’s father were all waiting for them when they arrived, standing around Cassandra’s bed. Varian suddenly felt very small as everyone turned their heads, eagerly watching him retrieve the Moonsandrium from his belt.

_ No problem...we’ve got this. _

The room was so soundless it seemed everyone’s breathing could be heard. The group moved away from the bed to make way for Varian. As he approached the bed, his breath hitched and he nearly dropped the stone when he saw her. The former handmaiden looked white as the sheets she laid on, and she was still wearing the faded moonstone armor. Varian fingered the Moonstonium, his eyes beginning to sting.

“This is our last chance…” He whispered in an unmoving tone. “It  _ has _ to work.”

The alchemist gingerly placed the stone on Cassandra’s heart where the moonstone used to rest. He wrung his hands, waiting for a result, and everyone else leaned in, the silence of the room weighing on everyone.

He waited for another minute, starting to panic...but then something happened.

The Moonstonium merged in with Cassandra’s flesh and color started returning to her face. Varian’s head immediately snapped up and a smile started to form at the corners of his mouth.

“It’s working…” He voiced, hardly believing it himself.

The stone settled in fully and glowed on her chest as Cassandra’s breathing grew more steady.

“It’s working!” Varian exclaimed louder, gesturing for everyone else to gather around.

Cassandra stirred and her eyes began to flutter open.

Rapunzel sprinted over to the bed, her tone filled with hope.

_ “Cass?” _

Cassandra gasped and sat up, glancing down at the Moonstonium and then up to Varian.

“You...you  _ saved _ me?” She asked him timidly, not fully believing what she was seeing.

Varian beamed at Cass and that was all the confirmation she needed. 

“Thank you, Varian. For  _ everything. _ ”

The alchemist maintained his bright smile. It was relieving to finally call Cass a friend again.

“You-you’re welcome...Cassandra, heh.”

She weakly smiled back at him as Rapunzel tackled her in a hug. The two of them hugged for a long time, and eventually Cass pulled Varian in as well. Gradually everyone else joined in until they were a crying, hugging mess in the middle of the Healing Wing. Unrelenting tears of joy were continually falling from all of their eyes. Cassandra was really back.

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Flash forward three weeks, and things were looking pretty different in Corona. The wreckage left from Zhan Tiri’s brief reign of tower was quickly being repaired with the help of Varian, the newly appointed Royal Engineer, who was pardoned for all of his “fake” crimes he was accused of while working with Cass. Varian took this newfound opportunity to install his hot water machines, and add some new technology of his own design to the castle. He and his dad were offered space in the castle as well, which Varian decided to take, at least on the weekends to better access the equipment and space he needed. As for Quirin, he stayed in Old Corona full time, and even found Adira and Hector some houses near him. The brotherhood members decided to stay in the kingdom to act as more protection, and to experience the “domestic life” that Quirin was so fervent about.

Rapunzel was finally on track to becoming queen and engaged to the love of her life and Captain of the Guard, Eugene Fitzherbert. Lance was in the process of adopting Angry and Catalina which was going to be a surprise for both of them, along the treehouse that he bought. He enlisted Varian and Eugene to help him fix it up. Varian added some alchemical pizzazz and machinery while Eugene helped with the decor. Though once the captain realized he knew almost nothing about design, he immediately forgoed the position to Rapunzel who added a much needed feminine touch and beautiful paintings. Everything seemed to be getting back to normal with the exception of one person: Cass.

Cassandra stood looking out at the horizon, sporting a forest green cloak, drastically different from her dreary moonstone armor. The bright blue Moonstonium glowed faintly under her shirt, but the brightest thing she was wearing was her smile. For the first time in her life, Cassandra finally felt  _ free. _ She was fully recovered and ready to brave the world, about to leave Corona for new adventures. She had already said most of her goodbyes at the capitol, but there was one last stop she had to make.

Eugene, Rapunzel, and Cassandra stood at Varian’s door. Cass was about to knock when the door swung open, revealing the eccentric and slightly sad alchemist. He gave a small wave.

“Thank-thanks for stopping by, Cassand-”

Varian didn’t have time to finish when Cass wrapped him in a hug. The Moonstonium glowed brighter and the reaction caused his hairstripe to light up.

“Woah, heh.” Varian laughed, glancing up at the stripe.

“Guess the blue hair rubbed off on you, kid.” Cass laughed along, pulling away from the hug.

Varian pulled away as well, and couldn’t resist the opportunity to spew some final scientific facts before Cassandra’s departure.

“Heh. Well  _ technically _ my luminescent hair is the reaction of the Moonstonium to the remaining moonstone essence residing in me...but I suppose you could say it ‘rubbed off,’ heh.” 

Instead of rolling her eyes like she normally did, Cass only shrugged and gave him a pure, true smile.

“Never change, kid.”

Varian bit his lip and tried not to cry. Even after all they’d been through, he was still going to miss Cassandra. Especially since they’d bonded so much in the last few weeks after he saved her. 

“I’m, uh...I’m really going to miss you, Cass.” Varian forced out between his tears that he was unable to stop.

“Hey, call me Cassie.” Cass told him with a wink.

Varian smiled slightly and his cheeks flushed as he hugged Cass one more time.

“Go find your real ‘destiny,’ Cass-Cassie, heh. We’re all rooting for you.”

Cassandra shared one last group hug before edging out of the doorway and mounting Fidella. Eugene ruffled Varian’s hair, his stripe still shining brightly, and Rapunzel gave him a loving side hug. Their eyes all shone with tears as they gave their final wave to Cass. She rode off as the sun was setting, fading into the horizon.

“I never got to ask, kid.” Eugene started once Cassandra was out of sight. “The blue hair, what’s up with that?” He asked, doing his best to lighten the mood.

Varian snorted and glanced up at the slightly dimming hairstripe. What  _ did _ it mean?

At first it was a symbol of lies and the physical and emotional hurt he was feeling. But now? Now it was a reminder of how far he had come. He knew who he truly was, and though he was connected to magic, the very thing he used to despise, he was able to save Cassandra. He proved that he was so much more than his past, and in a way, the stripe resembled how far he had really come. From a poor misguided villain, to a tentative double-agent trying not to dwell on the past, and now finally, at long last, a triumphant hero.

Varian beamed at Rapunzel and Eugene and told them exactly what he was feeling without skipping a beat.

“It’s...it’s my  _ legacy, _ heh.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay...here comes my "speech"  
> This is my first fully completed multi-chapter fic and I couldn't be happier (or more proud of myself). I'm usually the type to forget about my commitments and jump from project to project without a second thought, but these last few months have shown me that I can actually finish something that I started. Encased in Lies began as a vague idea which eventually turned into a chaotic outline and finally this fic. I'm so grateful for everyone's kind words and feedback. It really fueled me to keep going even when I felt like I wanted to quit. I'm so glad that you guys enjoyed my story, and I look forward to sharing new ones in the future. This has been quite the journey for me, and though I'm sad it's over, I'm so proud that I was able to take an idea and really turn it into a finished product. As for my next project, it's definitely in phase one right now, and it will probably be slow since school is starting back up, but I'm planning on a sort of backstory fic all from Varian's point of view. I'm so excited to delve more into his character with this one, and I hope all of you will come back to read it!   
> Well that's all from me! Thank you all again for reading and commenting and I hope you have an absolutely "spellbinding" day!!!

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading!!! I'm really REALLY going to try to update every week or at least every other week. Have an amazing day!!!


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